What if She Was
by Wisterian Princess
Summary: Clary's death was faked and she was kidnapped. Her memories were erased and replaced, and she believes she's someone she's not. Years later, she goes to the New York Institute with her 'sister', and doesn't know why, but she's drawn to her sister's boyfriend, Jace. Jace has to deal with a girl who looks like Clary coming into his life, and slowly begins to fall for her.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! My name is Wisterian Princess. First thing you should know is that this story is loosely based off on the story "Heart by Heart". The second thing you should know is that 'Heart by Heart' is by _me_, so yeah, don't worry about that :) If you liked 'Heart by Heart', you might like this one!**

**So the basic story here is that Clary died in Jace's arms- or so he thought. Someone fake killed her or their own reasons, and eased her memories, then replaced them with new ones. So basically, her whole life is one big fat lie. There's also a disguise rune, but she thinks that's a tattoo- because her whole family has them, too, as well as her boyfriend and his family (TWIST!).**

**Anyway, I hope you'll like this story! Enjoy!**

* * *

"Clary!" Jace called her name as he looked through the building for her. The other Shadowhunters were here now and all that was on Jace's mind was if Clary was alright. "Clary!"

Jace looked into another room, seeing blood on the floor. He walked in and saw Clary, lying in a pool of her own blood, a wound on her chest.

He dropped to her side. "Clary? Clary, can you hear me?"

Clary eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him. "... Jace?" Her voice was soft, weak.

Jace pulled a stele out of his pocket and drew an iratze on her arm. Nothing happened. "Why isn't it working?" he said, mostly to himself.

"... Jace," Clary took hold of his hand. "... I love you." Her eyes froze open and her hand dropped.

"No." Jace grabbed her hand. "Clary, stay with me!" But it was too late. Clary was dead.

* * *

The voices around Clary were very faint, but she could hear them. She had no idea where she was- she'd thought she was dead. Was it possible she survived?

"This is going to take time," said a voice Clary didn't recognize.

"Well, hurry up," another snapped. "I want her to remember nothing of her previous life."

_What_?

"And that's going to take a while," the other voice persisted. "What kinds of things do you want her to remember?"

"I want her to remember the others- a life with them. She will have a place in a new family and a brand new life. She will no longer be Clary Morgenstern, but born someone new."

"... No," Clary muttered. She was very weak.

"She's conscious."

"Put her back down!"

"I can't until I start. What do you want her name to be?"

"... Skylar Ravenwalker."

And that was the last thing Clary heard before she blacked out again.

* * *

**Three Years Later...**

Skylar gasped as she woke up. Her phone was ringing. She took it carelessly off the nightstand and answered it without checking the caller ID. "... Hello?"

"Wow, you sound _awful_," said a familiar voice.

"... Brooke?" Brooke was Skylar's older sister. She was also her best friend, and parabatai.

"Morning, sunshine," she chuckled. "Did I wake you, or do you have a hangover?"

Skylar scoffed. "Brooke, you _know_ I don't drink."

"Well, then I woke you. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Skylar sat up and moved her messy hair out of her face. "What's up?"

"Well," she began. "I talked to Maryse, and guess what?"

Skylar furrowed her brow, trying to remember who Maryse was. "Who's Maryse?"

"Maryse Lightwood, she's the mom and she runs the Manhattan Institute."

"Right," Skylar nodded. "What?"

"I said she's from the Manhattan Institute."

"No, I meant what did she say? You said 'guess what she said' so..."

"Oh, right." You could hear the smile in Brooke's voice.

"... Brooke?"

"She said you could come and stay with us, Sky. Like, in Manhattan!"

Skylar blinked, surprised. "What?"

"Isn't it great?!" she exploded

Skyler was dumbfounded. "But... I can't." She threw the covers off herself and went to her bathroom.

"Why the hell not?"

"Well... I can't just drop everything and leave. I mean..." She looked at herself in the mirror and jumped. She'd thought she'd seen someone else for a second there.

"Your boyfriend?"

Skylar pursed her lips. That was the main reason.

"Adrian will understand," Brooke reasoned. "And this is a great opportunity, Sky! Don't pass it up just for some _boy_."

Skylar's shoulders dropped and she walked back into her room. "He isn't just_ some boy_, Brooke. We've been dating for _four years_!"

"Whatever." You could practically hear Brooke roll her eyes. "Skylar, I know you want to. You can hear it in your voice. And you're _nineteen_ now, so you can make your own decisions. Plus, I _really_ want you here. I can't stand to be away from my parabatai anymore."

Skylar sighed. She didn't want to be away from Brooke anymore, either, and she really did want to go. She'd never been to New York before. "... Maybe it wouldn't hurt to leave California for a while..."

"Yes! You won't regret this, I promise."

Skyler giggled. "Okay, bye Brooke."

"See ya, sis."

Skylar hung up and tossed her phone onto her bed. She went back into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face to help wake herself up. She dried it off, then looked in the mirror again and stared at her reflection.

Her hair was long, straight, and honey colored, her skin was tanned from the Californian sun, and her eyes were hazel.

She stared at herself for a long time before going to get ready.

* * *

"Who're you texting?" asked Isabelle.

"No one." Alec looked up from his phone.

"No phones at the table," said Maryse.

Alec sighed and put his phone away.

"Let me guess..." said Isabelle. "Magnus Bane."

"Shut up," Alec glared at her and she giggled.

"It's not like you don't text Simon all the time."

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Fair point. You win."

Brooke walked into the room with a big smile on her face.

"How'd it go?" asked Jace. He looked happy, Isabelle noticed. She was really glad he had finally been able to get over Clary after what happened.

"She agreed." Brooke looked ecstatic as she sat next to Jace.

"That's _great_," Maryse smiled. "I'm very glad she said yes."

"I can't imagine being away from your parabatai for a _full_ _year_," said Alec.

"It's hard," Brooke had obviously grabbed Jace's hand under the table. She smiled. "I'm _really_ happy. Thank you so much, Maryse."

"Of course," Maryse smiled.

Brooke had something about her that just made people feel better. Maryse had lightened up a ton since she'd come and Jace had his broken heart healed- mostly. Him and Brooke had been dating for about nine months now.

"What her name again?" Isabelle asked.

Brooke took a bite of pancake. "Skylar. She's nice, don't worry."

"Well, I'm looking forward to meeting her."

* * *

Skylar wandered down the stairs into the kitchen.

"Heeey," said Thea, looking up from the table.

"Hey, Thea," Skylar sat down at the table and grabbed the box of cheerios. "What are you doing here?"

Thea scoffed. "I'm always here."

Thea and Skylar were the only people at the table, but there was an abandoned cereal bowl that looked like it belonged to Aaron.

"Where's-"

"Aaron and Adrian went surfing," Thea jerked her chin in the direction of the sliding glass door at the back of the kitchen.

Skylar glanced at it. Their houses were right next door to each other- the Foxwrights and Ravenwalkers- and both on the beachfront. "_Surfing_?"

Thea frowned. "You know they surf."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it smart."

Thea laughed. "Good point. I tried surfing once. Not fun."

"Yeah, me too." Skylar looked back at Thea, then ate a bite of her cereal.

Thea was Adrian's fifteen year old sister. It was startling how much she looked like her brother. Thea was a head shorter than Skylar, with long, straight black hair and gray eyes. One thing about Thea that was specific was she looked younger than she was- which wasn't the case with Adrian. _Especially_ not with Adrian- who looked twenty or twenty one, but he was nineteen.

"I'm going to change," said Thea, standing up. "I'm going swimming. You coming?"

"Yeah," Skylar stood up. "But clear your place. You've picked up a bad habit from my brother."

Thea rolled her eyes and cleared her cereal bowl.

Skylar opened the sliding glass door and touched the sand with her barefoot. It was warm- heated from the sun.

She stepped into the light and shut her eyes, feeling the sun on her skin where it was exposed- her shoulders, her stomach, her legs, her face...

She looked out at the water where her brother and boyfriend were surfing. She could hear them whooping from there. She giggled.

She looked down at herself. She was wearing a white bikini top and shorts- a look that showed off her tanned stomach and belly button ring- which she'd gotten pierced for her eighteenth birthday with Brooke.

One of the boys was walking onto shore, surfboard under arm. Adrian.

Skylar smiled and walked across the beach to him. When she reached him, he dropped his board in the sand, wrapped his arms around her, and he spun her around.

She made a sound of surprise and he laughed. He set her down and kissed her. "Morning," he mumbled against her lips.

"Morning," she smiled.

He touched his nose to hers. "Come to surf?"

"No way in hell."

He chuckled. His black hair that hung in front of his eyes was now sticking to his forehead and the bridge of his nose. Skylar noticed his silver nose ring seemed especially noticeable against his golden-bronze skin. "Come to see me shirtless, then?"

"Pretty much," she giggled.

Adrian released her and picked up his now sandy surfboard. "I'll be back in a minute." He gave her another quick peck on the lips before heading back to his house.

"Bleh," said Thea, walking over in her blue one piece- the shade was particularly complimenting to her skin tone. "_Couples_," she looked back at the water where Aaron was walking out of the water with his surfboard. "I wish your brother would ask me out."

Skylar glanced at her. "He's _six years_ older than you."

Thea shrugged. "He's still hot."

Aaron made his way over to the two. "Hey," she smiled.

"Hi," Thea said flirtatiously.

Skylar rolled her eyes. "Go clean up your cereal bowl," she said sternly. "You're setting a bad example."

Aaron chuckled. "Whatever you say, little sister." He went back toward the house behind her.

"OMG, his _abs_," said Thea, looking after him.

Skylar rolled her eyes. Thea had had a hopeless crush on Aaron since she was eleven.

"Skylar! Phone!" Aaron called from the house.

Skylar turned around and walked back.

**Two Weeks Later...**

"Call me," said Adrian.

"I will," said Skylar as she kissed him. Skylar was all packed and ready to leave for New York. Brooke had reminded her to bring slightly warmer clothes. New York was no beach; it was a lot colder in Manhattan than in Redondo Beach. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Skylar released him with some difficulty. She moved to her mother, Elena, and embraced her.

"I'll see you really soon, Sky, okay?" Skylar could hear that her mother was crying.

"Yeah. I'll visit soon." She pulled away and wiped the tear from her mother's face.

She wrapped her arms around Stan next. "I'll see ya, Dad."

"Don't get into too much trouble," he joked.

"I won't," she pulled away.

"Ready?" asked Edwin Tron, her family's trusted warlock friend.

Skylar nodded and picked up her bags.

Edwin aimed his hands at his wall and a portal opened. "Whenever you're ready."

Skylar took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then stepped through.

When she opened them again, she was in a completely different scene. She was in a courtyard, and the building before her was beautiful. Standing only a few feet away was her sister, Brooke, and four strangers.

Skylar dropped her bags and ran to her sister.

"Oh my god, you're _here_!" Brooke exclaimed.

"Oh, I _missed_ you," she smiled. She felt relief inside- relief from her now satisfied connection she had to her parabatai. They'd been separated for too long.

Brooke pulled away and looked at her, grinning madly. "You're so _tan_!"

"You're so pale!" The two laughed.

Finally, Skylar looked at the strangers. There two women and two men. Everyone had black hair but one- a _very_ attractive boy with blonde hair- who was staring at her. This must be Jace- Brooke's boyfriend.

Brooke had talked about him non-stop since they started dating nine months ago. She'd gone on and on about how attractive he was, and how he had a slightly sexy, cocky personality.

"Everyone, this is Sky," said Brooke. "Sky, this is everyone. Maryse, Isabelle, Alec and Jace," she gestured to each of them as she spoke.

All of them were staring at her. Skylar smiled nervously. "It's nice to meet you." They were still staring. It was making her uncomfortable.

Finally, the eldest woman snapped out of it and smiled a friendly smile. "Hi, I'm Maryse Lightwood. Welcome to Manhattan."

Skylar mentally breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks. I'm Skylar Ravenwalker."

The other girl snapped out of her trance, too. "It's nice to meet you, Skylar. Brooke has told us a lot about you."

"Good things, I hope," she said nervously. She noticed- though the two women were acting friendly, there was something else there in their eyes. Skylar couldn't place it.

"Please," said Maryse, gesturing to the beautiful building. "Come in."

* * *

**What did you think? This is sort of like a Pilot, BTW, so I haven't written more than this, but I'm gonna- ASAP.**

**Thanks, and I can't wait to hear for you all! :)**

**Wisterian Princess**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, I was not expecting that much encouragement. That was great! Thank you all so much!**

**Here's chapter 2!**

* * *

"So, this is your room," said Brooke, opening the door.

Skylar walked in and marveled. "... Wow." Her room in her house was no where near as nice as this. In fact, this may have been the nicest room she'd ever seen. "Wait, this is _my_ room?"

Brooke nodded and smiled. "My room looks like this, too. I think all of them do- but nevertheless-"

Skylar's phone began to ring. She pulled it out of the back pocket of her skinny jeans.

"I bet it's Adrian," said Brooke. "Knowing you, you didn't break up because of distance."

Sky looked at the called ID. Sure enough, it was Adrian. "Of course we didn't. I'm not going to dump him just because I want to go to New York for awhile. This isn't permanent."

Brooke shrugged. "I don't know. New York kinda grows on you."

Skylar wiggled her eyebrows, then answered her phone. "Hey."

"Hi," said Adrian's voice. "Just calling to see that you got there alright."

Her brow furrowed. "Somehow I get the sense you're bluffing."

Adrian chuckled. "I just wanted to hear your voice. I miss you already."

"I miss you, too," Skylar glanced at Brooke. She was watching her with a look that said '_Really_?'

"Hey, can I call you tonight?" she asked. "I'm not alone."

"Oh, okay," Adrian sounded slightly disappointed. "Tell Brooke I said hey."

"Okay, I will. Love you."

"Love you, too."

Skylar hung up and put her phone back in her pocket.

"Do you want me to help you unpack?" Brooke asked, pulling a red bra out of her bag.

Skylar snatched it away, blushing. "I'm fine, thanks," she stuffed it back in.

Brooke rolled her eyes and got up. "If you need me... Well, you may need to text me- or talk to the cat," she winked and left.

* * *

After Sky was unpacked, she left the room. She'd really regretted that now, because she was thoroughly lost. She was walking down some hallway- where it lead, she wasn't sure, but she kept going.

She tried a door and looked in. It was clean and company ready bedroom. The only way Skylar could tell it was in use was by the picture frame on the nightstand. She sighed and shut the door.

She jumped and made a sound of surprise when she saw a cat sitting on the ground, staring at her.

"... Hi," she said.

The cat glared at her.

"Um... I don't suppose you know where Brooke is, do you?" she wasn't serious, but Brooke had said to ask the cat- though she was probably joking. What could it hurt? She was already lost.

The cat started walking away, and she followed it. The cat lead her into a kitchen, then walked up to Maryse- who was cooking- and rubbed up against her leg.

"Not now Church," she said. The cat meowed. Maryse looked up and jumped. "Oh, you scared me," she smiled.

Skylar smiled nervously. "Sorry, I'm a bit lost."

Maryse chuckled. "Oh, sorry. I suppose I should give you a tour. Brooke says you don't get around much."

"I don't," she felt nervous for some reason.

"Well, dinner's almost ready, so they should be coming here soon, if you want to wait," she gestured to the next room. "That's the diningroom."

"Thanks," Skylar smiled. "Do you want help?"

Maryse seemed surprised. "Um... Sure. Thank you," she pointed to a cabitate. "There are plates in there if you could..."

"Sure," Sky opened the cabinet and counted out six plates. She brought them into the dining room and set them out. She went back into the kitchen. "What else?"

* * *

Skylar sat at the table once everything was finished. It took about a minute before Alec came in, and when he did, he stared for several seconds. Sky looked at her plate uncomfortably. Why was everyone staring at her? Was it because she was new?

"Hi," he said awkwardly as he sat down.

"Hi."

Isabelle walked in next, then sat down. "Hi," she smiled.

Sky gave her a friendly smile, too. "Hi."

"Skylar, right?"

"Sky's fine. You're Isabelle, right?"

Isabelle nodded. "How're you liking New York?"

Sky smiled. She could possibly be friends with this girl. "From what I've seen, it's great."

"We should've taken you out," said Isabelle. "Well, we _should_. New York city is about as far away from a beach as you can get."

Skylar's eyes brightened. "That'd be great, thanks."

"We should take her to Pandemonium," said Brooke, walking into the room. She was half-holding Jace's hand and half towing him in as they entered.

Jace was obviously avoiding looking at Skylar, which made her frown.

"What's Pandemonium?" asked Skylar.

Brooke's eyes lit up. "A nightclub."

"Sounds fun."

Maryse walked into the room then. "That's fine, but you have to eat dinner first."

"Of course," Brooke smiled. "It smells delicious, by the way."

Maryse smiled. "Thanks," she sat down and looked at Brooke and Skylar. "So, you two are _parabatai_?"

"That's right," said Brooke.

"How could you two bare to be apart for that long?" Maryse asked.

"It wasn't without difficulty," Brooke exchanged a smile with her sister. "I'm just glad she said yes to being my parabatai in the first place. She'd had her eye on someone else, actually."

Maryse raised her eyebrow and looked at Skylar. "Oh?"

"Yes," Sky chimed in. "Actually, I'm glad he said no- not only because I like having Brooke as my other half, but because we ended up dating," she smiled at the thought of Adrian.

Jace eyed her curiously, she noticed.

"Oh, tell the story, it's _so_ cute," Brooke gushed.

Sky laughed and blushed. "Um, okay. So, we grew up next to the Foxwrights. When I was seven, I asked Adrian if he wanted to be my _parabatai_ when the time came. And he said..." she blushed and giggled at the memory.

Brooke jumped in. "He said no, and when Skylar asked why, he said-"

"He said because _parabatai_ can't get married," Skylar blushed.

Isabelle started laughing. Alec, too.

"That's precious," said Maryse.

"Yes it is," said Brooke. "About a year after that, the Foxwrights moved to Idris. They came back when I was sixteen- Sky was fifteen- and they started dating. We were already _parabatai_ by that time," she smiled fondly.

"Adrian and I are still dating," Skylar was still blushing.

Isabelle giggled. "I love that. That's the sweetest thing ever."

"Isn't it?" Brooke looked at Isabelle. "I was always jealous that Sky could get a boyfriend and I couldn't- though Adrian wasn't her first," she turned to look at Jace. "Actually, Jace was only my second."

Jace was smiling a little, but looking at his plate.

Skylar furrowed her brow slightly. He was nothing like Brooke had described him.

* * *

Skylar sat on her bed and Brooke looked through her closet.

"Why didn't you bring any good dresses?" asked Brooke.

"I _did_," said Sky. "Just not for nightclubs."

Brooke looked over her shoulder at her. "You can borrow something of mine. You're about two dress sizes smaller, but it's worth a shot."

"_One_ dress size," Sky sighed and stood up. "Okay, fine."

She followed Brooke down the hall to her room.

Brooke began searching through her closet next.

"So..." Skylar sat on the foot of her sister's bed. "I guess Jace is sort of shy- either that, or he doesn't like me."

Brooke stopped going through her clothes and looked at her over her shoulder. "I don't know _what_ his deal is today. He's _never_ like this."

"Than he hates me."

"Believe me, if he didn't like you, you'd know," Brooke scoffed. "But they were all staring at you... Maybe they just think you're really hot."

Skylar laughed. "I highly doubt that, but I'm flattered."

Brooke giggled and turned her attention back to the closet. "Have you ever even been to a nightclub?"

"No, but I've watched movies."

Brooke laughed. "You know about the dress code?"

Sky shrugged. "Sort of."

"Well then," Brooke pulled out a red dress and handed it to her. "Go try this on."

Skylar did as instructed, but once it was on, she didn't want to wear it. "This is _way_ to tight!" she called.

"Come out," said Brooke.

Skylar sighed and walked out.

Brooke smiled. "It's perfect. Much better on you than me."

She tugged at the end of her way too short dress. "You're not going to make me wear this in _public_, are you?"

Brooke rolled her eyes. "You used to walk around in your bikini, Sky. I don't see what the big deal is."

"It's different if you live on a _beach_. Brooke, I can't go out like this!"

Brooke laughed. "I'm going out like that, too. I just need to change," she walked by her and into the bathroom.

"Hold on," Skylar tried to stop her from closing the door, but failed. "Brooke, my clothes are in there!"

"I'll give them back later," she called. "Go back to your room and get shoes."

"Brooke, I'm not going to let anyone see me in this-"

Brooke's room door opened and Sky looked over. Jace had just come in, and was now staring at her.

Skylar blushed scarlet. _I'm going to kill her, I'm going to kill her, I'm going to kill her_, she thought. "Um... Hi," she said awkwardly.

"Sorry," said Jace. "I was looking for-"

"Brooke's changing," Skylar felt butterflies in her stomach. She wondered if he made all girls feel like this. "She'll be out in a minute."

Jace shut the door. "I can wait."

"Okay," Sky walked over and sat down on Brooke's bed.

She noticed Jace was staring at her again.

"Why are you staring at me?" she was slightly embarrassed, but she had to know.

Jace looked away. "I'm not."

Sky cocked her head to the side. The way he'd said it was strange... "You _were_."

Jace glanced back up at her. His eyes were gold, Skylar noticed, gold and gorgeous. She blushed at her own thoughts- as if she'd said them out loud.

The corner Jace's mouth pulled up.

Sky was suddenly extremely aware of how much the dress didn't cover her legs, and how it was so tight, that it was like a second skin. She bit her bottom lip. Adrian had never make her feel like this...

The bathroom door opened, and out came Brooke. She smiled when she say him. "Hi," Brooke's dress was tight and short, too, but it somehow looked classy on her, and the shade of blue brought out her eyes.

"Hey," said Jace.

"We're not quite ready," she said. "Give us five minutes?"

"I actually..." Jace glanced at Skylar for a brief second. "Nevermind. I'll see you in five minutes," then he left the room.

"Okay," said Brooke, oblivious to the weirdness. "Shoes."

* * *

Skylar followed Brooke into the elevator. She- for some reason- felt extremely self conscious.

"Relax," Brooke chuckled. "You look great."

"I look like a hooker," Sky muttered.

Brooke frowned. "You do know that I wore that the first time I went to Pandemonium, too, right? It was even tighter on me."

"Sorry," she muttered.

The elevator doors opened, and she consciously followed her sister to the others. The first thing she noticed was Jace staring. She blushed.

It made Skylar feel slightly better that Isabelle was dressed in something similar, but with a low neck. Isabelle, however, had the legs to pull it off. Skylar wasn't sure she did.

"Doesn't she look _great_?" Brooke gushed.

"You do," said Isabelle. "It's quite a transformation."

Brooke scoffed. "If you see her at home, maybe not."

Isabelle frowned. Sky blushed again.

"Let's go."

* * *

On the train, Sky stared out the window at the city. It was different, and beautiful, but also slightly familiar, and strangely homey to her.

"You both have the same tattoo," said Alec.

Sky looked over at him. "Yeah. Everyone in my family does."

"And some others, too," said Brooke. "The Foxwrights also have these. I think our moms got these together when they were young, and it became a family thing," she shrugged.

Sky touched the tattoo on her right shoulder blade. She couldn't see it, but knew it was an intricate design that almost looked like a rune. She'd seen it on everyone in her life almost daily- except in the rainy season.

"Maybe I'll get it, too," said Isabelle. "It kind of looks cool."

"Thanks," Brooke and Sky said in unison. They both chuckled at this.

Brooke was beautiful- much more so than Skylar, in her opinion. Brooke was a combination of tall and shapely, with a beautiful face that could never look fully angry. Her hair was long and dark brown- like their mother's- and she had striking blue eyes. Skylar envied her sometimes- even though she had more boyfriends. She especially envied her now- having Jace. Her eyes widened at her thoughts and she blushed.

* * *

"So this is Pandemonium?" asked Skylar, looking at the place.

"The one and only," said Brooke. "Let's go."

They went to the front of the line. The bouncer took one look at them and gestured them inside. "I love what you've done with your hair," he said to Skylar.

She frowned. He must've had her confused with someone else.

Inside, it was crowded and noisy. There were rainbow colors of hair, tons of people dancing, and drinking.

"Okay, have fun," said Brooke. "I'll be right back," then she disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

**Next chapter written and on its way! Sorry I didn't really make anything happen. I'm working in it :) I could also use some assistance on ideas.**

**The Playlist is a work in progress. What songs do you think fit the story? The playlist is posted on my website (listed in my profile).**

**Also, I'm on Twitter! (username: WisterianPrince)**

**One last thing: if anyone has any requests, please let me know! I'll see what I can do ;)**

**Thanks!**

**Wisterian Princess**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys!**

******So, I was reading the codex, and I just found out that '_stele_' is pronounced '_steh-lay_'. What's up with that?!**

******And a quick shout out to Reader'sConscious: FOR RAZIEL'S SAKE, UPDATE!**

**Anyway, Here's chapter 3! I hope you like it!**

* * *

"Okay, have fun," said Brooke. "I'll be right back," then she disappeared into the crowd.

"_Brooke_!" Skylar called. What was she doing, ditching her when she first time she came to a nightclub?

"She'll be back," said Jace. "Always is," she looked at her and gave her a crooked smile. "Wanna dance?"

"Sure," he looked less depressed than he had before. He was much more outgoing, it seemed.

He was a good dancer, too. Skylar had never danced much- do to embarrassment- but from the looks of it, a nightclub was a place for letting go. She let herself sink into the beat of the music and she moved accordingly. She didn't bother to look at Jace's expression- for she'd surely stop. She was having fun.

She looked around to see how other people were dancing- but got distracted by the look on the men's' faces when they looked at her. They looked at her with a combination of wonder, lust, and hunger. She frowned and looked back at the face that had caught her eye. He was fairly cute, but there was something else... That's when it hit her.

She quickly turned to Jace. "There's a demon!" the music was so loud that he was probably the only one who'd heard her.

His eyes were immediately searching. They stopped in the general direction of the demon. "I see it," he turned back to her.

Sky didn't have anything on her- not even her phone. Her dress and shoes had no convenient places to conceal weapons, like Isabelle's did.

"I have a knife," said Jace. "But I don't know if I can get close enough."

"I can," she was nervous about the idea. "I'll lure him to a secluded area, then you can get him with your knife."

He raised his eyebrows. "You're using yourself as _bait_?"

"It's most likely going to follow me," she said. "Unless I misjudged his preferences. If so, be my guest."

He grinned at this. "Alright. I'll follow you."

She nodded, then made her way towards the demon. She cut in on a dance he was having with some mundane girl- who looked pissed, but gave up quickly.

Sky tried to ignore the revolting smell and got closer. She smiled as seductively as she could manage. "What's your name?"

The demon grinned. He was less attractive up close- where the smell was almost overpowering. "Jacob," he said. "What's yours?"

She made up a name on the spot. "Clarissa," she, again, tried to compose herself. "Do you wanna go somewhere a little more... _private_?"

His grin was menacing. "I'll follow you."

She took his hand and she lead him through the crowd. She didn't know where she was going, but she acted like she did. She was a door that said 'storage' on it, and she picked that place. She led the demon in and felt a bundle of nerves as soon as the door was shut. She had no weapons. What if Jace had lost her in the crowd? She swallowed.

"What did you say your name was again?" the demon asked.

"Clarissa," she almost didn't remember.

He smiled. "Well, _Clarissa_," she pushed her up against the wall and she gasped. "I'm certainly glad you came."

The door flew open and relief flooded her body. Jace stepped in and pointed his sword at the thing.

The demon turned away and looked at him. "You-"

Skylar pulled up her foot and kicked him hard on the chest. He stumbled back right into Jace's sword and cried out. Black ichor poured from the wound on his chest as he fell to the ground. He folded into himself, and disappeared.

"Good timing," she said. She looked up at him as he wiped the demon blood from the knife.

"You alright?"

"Fine," she said. "Haven't had this much adrenalyn in while, though," she smiled. "I kind of like it."

Jace chuckled. "A natural born Shadowhunter," something twinged inside her for a brief second, but it was quickly forgotten. "What now? Do you want to dance again?"

She nodded. "Sounds fun."

* * *

They must have been dancing for hours now. She was sweaty and breathless, but she was having fun. She hadn't remembered having this much fun in a very long time. She was always aware of all the eyes one her as she spun around, her honey colored hair flowing around her.

She suddenly noticed how close her and Jace were. She hadn't even noticed when they'd gone from a foot away to inches apart. She jumped back from him and blushed.

He seemed to notice her blush, and a crooked smile came to his lips.

"_There_ you are!" said Brooke, suddenly appearing. "I've been looking all _over_ for you guys!" she looked at Skylar for a second, then turned to Jace. "You got her to dance."

Jace glanced at Skylar for a brief second.

"That's great!" Brooke looked back at her sister. "You're a really great dancer, by the way."

Skylar blushed. and Brooke laughed. "Well, don't let me interrupt. I'll leave if it'll get you to dance again."

Sky shook her head. "I'm good."

Brooke looked back at Jace. She seemed to notice the back ichor on his sleeve. "What's this?"

"Demon blood."

Her eyes widened. "Why didn't you get me?"

"It's fine," said Sky. "I was there. The demon was really easy, actually."

Brooke looked at her for a second without a smile. She couldn't identify the look on her face. Brooke was usually always happy- when she wasn't, it wasn't identifiable.

"Are you okay?" Sky asked, concerned.

"... Fine," she blinked a few times, then smiled again. "So, is there any chance you will dance again?"

"No," she said. "No way in hell."

* * *

Skylar opened her eyes and remembered where she was. She's come to the Institute only yesterday, but it felt like she'd been there a whole lot longer.

She went to the bathroom and jumped when she saw her reflection, then laughed at herself.

She brushed her teeth, washed her face, and pulled a brush through her straight, waist length, honey colored hair, then left her room. She walked down a couple different halls before seeing a landmark: an specific angel bust. She knew exactly where the dining room was from here.

She walked in and instantly froze. Everyone was dressed, and the girls had makeup on. Skylar was in her pajamas- as she always was when she first woke up. She often would eat breakfast in her pajamas, and didn't consider that no one else would.

Brooke looked up from her breakfast and her eyes widened. "Oh my."

All the other eyes went to her and Skylar blushed. "Sorry, I..."

"It's okay," Maryse smiled.

"I did the exact same thing my first day, too," said Brooke.

Jace was looking at her, the corner of his mouth turned up.

Skylar was suddenly very aware of her gray cropped tank top showing off her navel piercing. She crossed her arms over her chest. "... I'll just... go change," she started down the hall, but froze when she remembered she didn't know how to get back to her room. She walked back over to the door, feeling incredibly embarrassed. "Um... I don't remember where my room is..."

Isabelle stood up. "I'll help," she walked over to her. She glanced at them over her shoulder. "Be right back."

They started down the hall. "I'm _really_ embarrassed," Skylar admitted, still blushing.

"Don't worry," said Isabelle. "Your sister did the same thing- but I think she was more embarrassed because she liked Jace."

Sky glanced down at the floor and blushed.

"Oh," said Isabelle. "You like Jace, too."

Sky looked up sharply. "No I don't!" she lied. "I have a boyfriend back in Redondo."

"Aiden, right? No, Aaron," Isabelle frowned.

"No," she said quickly. "Aaron's my _brother_. My boyfriend's name is _Adrian_."

"Adrian," Isabelle nodded. "Got it."

They stopped at a door- which may or may not have been hers, she couldn't tell.

"See you in a few," said Isabelle, walking off.

Skylar dug through her drawers and pulled out a blue v-necked jumper, and a short, black skirt. She didn't really put much thought into it, just desperately wanted to change out of her pajamas.

She put on bulky black boots- which she thought looked cute with the short skirt- and did her makeup.

Five minutes later, she went back to the dining room.

"Hello again," said Maryse.

"Hi," Sky sat down next to Brooke, who gave her a warm smile.

"You want eggs?" asked Maryse.

Sky wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "No thanks. I don't like eggs much."

"Oh. Do you want me to make something else?" Maryse asked.

"No thanks. I'll just have an apple," she took one out of the fruit bowl and took a bite. Then she noticed Alec, Isabelle and Jace were staring at her. She chewed it slowly, awkwardly. "... These _are_ apples, right?"

Brooke snorted.

"Yes, of course," said Maryse.

Isabelle looked like she was blinking away thoughts. Alec shook his head at himself. Jace looked down at his plate and pushed the eggs around with his fork.

"... Is everything... okay?" Brooke asked, sounding concerned.

"Yeah," said Jace, still not looking up. "Fine."

* * *

Simon went up to the Institute doors and rang the doorbell. He rocked back and forth on his heels, waiting for someone to come. He pulled out his phone, and texted Isabelle that he was there.

The door opened and Simon nearly dropped his phone when he saw her. This wasn't possible.

"... _Clary_?!"

The girl frowned. She looked just like Clary- but with different hair, and eyes, and she was tan with no freckles. "Sorry?"

Simon blinked and sputtered. "You're _alive_?!"

The girl's eyes widened. "Um... Sorry, who're you? And who's Clary?"

Simon mentally slapped himself in the face. Of course this girl _wasn't_ Clary. Clary was dead. This girl looked a lot like her, but definitely wasn't.

"Uh... Sorry, I thought you were someone else. My name's Simon Lewis."

She smiled. "Skylar Ravenwalker. Are you... Isabelle's boyfriend?"

"Yes," he went to push his glasses up his face, but they weren't there. _Old habits die hard_, he thought.

"I thought so..." she trailed off and started staring at him."

Simon frowned. "Do I have something in my teeth?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Isabelle came up from behind her. "Simon, hey," she smiled. She looked at the girl- Skylar. "What? Did I miss something?"

"... You're..." she looked surprised- very surprised. "You're... A vampire."

Isabelle blinked at her.

"Yep," said Simon. "That's me."

"But..." she cocked her head to the side. "It's broad daylight."

Simon's eyes widened. That should've been obvious. She'd probably never seen a daylighter before. "Oh, yeah. The sun doesn't really affect me, so..."

She looked at him as if he'd just said pigs were flying down Mainstreet.

"Oh, yeah," said Isabelle. "That's just a him thing," she walked out and took Simon's hand. "We'll be back later."

Skylar blinked away her thoughts. "Bye."

As Isabelle and Simon started down the sidewalk, Isabelle looked at him with concern. He was staring at one spot in the distance. "I'm sorry," said Isabelle. "I should've warned you about Sky."

Simon swallowed. "She looked _exactly_ like Clary. I didn't... I thought..."

"You thought she was," Isabelle pressed her lips together. "I'm _really_ sorry, Simon."

Simon shook his head. "No, don't worry about it. So that's Brooke's sister?"

Isabelle nodded.

"... I don't see it. They look _very_ different."

Isabelle nodded. "Maybe her parents look very different, too."

Simon shrugged.

"Anyway," Isabelle smiled. "I missed you at Pandemonium last night. Some guy was hitting on me."

Simon looked up sharply.

Isabelle laughed. "Are you gonna bite him?"

"I might," Simon sounded serious, but he was joking.

Isabelle laughed again. "Don't worry, he gave up once I said I had a boyfriend who was gonna bite his head off if he continued."

Simon smiled. "Good."

* * *

Skylar thought for a long time about that vampire. The look on his face when he saw her... And who was Clary?

She thought about this now as she sat at the table for lunch. Alec and Isabelle were out, and Maryse was working, so it was only her, Brooke and Jace.

"... Sky?"

Skylar looked up at Brooke. "Hm?"

"I asked if you liked Pandemonium," said Brooke, looking slightly concerned- which was very Brooke.

"Oh, yeah. It was really fun, actually. Even the demon part," she smiled slightly.

Brooke smiled. "I still can't believe you left me out of that."

Jace shrugged. "We had it covered."

Skylar couldn't help it. She had to ask. "Hey, who's Clary?"

Both Jace and Brooke's smiles dropped and they looked up at her. The amount of silence was awkward.

Skylar cleared her throat and went back to eating. Brooke and Jace did, too. The rest of the meal was silent.

* * *

Sky sat on her bed, sketchbook on her lap. She wasn't sure what she was drawing, but her pencil seemed to know what to do. It moved swiftly across the page and drew a face Sky didn't recognize right away.

Someone knocked on her door and she jumped. "Come in."

The door opened and Brooke walked in. She didn't look her usual happy, but serious- though Brooke's face always looked slightly happy, even when she was angry, or sad.

"What's up?" Sky set her sketchpad face down next to her.

Brooke sat at the foot of her bed. "... Clary was Jace's girlfriend."

Skylar's eyes widened. "Oh."

Brooke looked down. "And the reason she's a touchy subject is because... Jace is still in love with her."

Sky frowned. "What about you? Does he love you?"

Brooke- still looking down- shook her head. "I haven't said it, but I love him. He doesn't love me back- not yet."

"Well why the hell not?"

Brooke glanced up at her.

"She's the _ex_-girlfriend. You two have been dating for nine months. Screw Clary!"

Brooke looked at her sharply. "Skylar!"

"What?" she shrugged.

"Skylar, Clary's _dead_."

Skylar's eyes widened. "What?" that would explain Simon's reaction.

"Yeah. She died about three years ago, right in front of Jace. He's still in love with her, that's what I was saying. I didn't want to push him too far if he wasn't ready."

Sky's eyes were wide. "Oh," she said quietly. "I didn't..."

"It's okay. You didn't know."

* * *

**What did you think?**

**Someone asked why Brooke was in New York. The answer is for training. In the codex, it encourages Shadowhunters to travel, and Brooke had only ever been to Redondo beach, and Idris, so she wanted to get some experience.**

**I could really use some help on ideas for this book, btw. If you have any requests, I'll try to incorporate them if possible.**

** Thanks!**

**Wisterian Princess**

**P.S. I have a twitter if anyone want to follow me. My username is WisterianPrince. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**jessicafrayne: thank you SO much! You have no idea how much that means to me :)**

**here's chapter 4! Sorry it's late!**

* * *

Sunlight poured through the window into Jace's bedroom, but he didn't get up.

Jace was staring at the picture frame on his nightstand. It was one of him and Clary- his arms wrapped around her, both smiling. That had been when everything was perfect. When Clary was alive.

There wasn't a day that went by where Clary didn't cross Jace's mind. He'd sometimes turn to talk to her, and she wouldn't be there. He sat up and took the picture frame in his hands, and touched the glass with his fingertips.

Someone knocked on his door. He quickly hid the picture in his nightstand drawer just as the door opened. It was Alec.

"Just came to wake you up," he said.

"Well, I'm awake," said Jace, getting out of bed.

"... Are you okay?" Alec asked, concerned.

Jace swallowed.

"... Are you having a hard time because Skylar looks like Clary?"

Jace shook his head. He'd gotten used to seeing Clary in Skylar. It had been two and a half weeks since she first came to the Institute. "... Today would be Clary's nineteenth birthday if she were still alive."

Alec's eyes widened. "Oh..."

Jace walked into the bathroom. "I'm going to get ready, then I'm going out. Don't follow me."

"I wasn't going to," Alec looked worried. "Are you okay?"

Jace didn't say anything. He swallowed again and shut the door.

* * *

Sky woke up from a dream she could no longer remember. All she knew was that it was a good dream, because she felt extraordinarily happy.

She got ready, and went to the dining room. She was getting to know the Institute more and more each day, and could find her way around now- mostly...

"Good morning," said Maryse.

"Morning."

Brooke looked over at her and smiled.

Sky sat down and looked around. Jace wasn't there. "Isn't Jace sleeping kind of late?"

Skylar noticed Alec look down at his plate.

Brooke shrugged.

There were a few seconds of silence before Isabelle broke it. "Where did you get those boots?"

"Hm?" Skylar looked under the table at her chunky buckle boots. "... I don't remember."

"Well, they're cute," the corner of Isabelle's mouth curled up.

"Maybe I could lend them to you," Sky said, half joking.

Isabelle chuckled.

"I think it was _Thymeless_," said Brooke. "That hole-in-the-wall store five minutes from our house."

"Yes," Sky pointed at her sister. "That was it!"

Brooke laughed. "You guys should visit Redondo sometime. It would be so fun! And it's a lot warmer there."

Maryse smiled. "That sounds nice. Maybe I can arrange it with your parents."

"Great," said Brooke. "Then it's settled."

* * *

Jace sat at the bar, finishing off his scotch. It had been his third drink today, and it was only noon.

"A bit early to be getting drunk, isn't it?" said a boy who was sitting two seats away from him.

"You're here," Jace pointed out. "You're a bit of a hypocrite."

The boy shrugged. "I suppose so. Then again, I've only had a club soda."

Jace scoffed.

"What's bothering you?" the boy asked.

Jace wasn't sure if he should vent to this stranger or not. Then again, he may feel better. "I'm mourning my girlfriend."

The boy pressed his lips together. "I'm sorry."

Jace rolled his eyes. "I don't understand why people find it necessary to apologize for things that aren't their fault."

The boy shrugged. "Alright, I'm _not_ sorry," he smirked.

"Look..." Jace gestured for the bartender to refill his glass. "I'm not interested in going home with you, so you might as well-"

The boy suddenly started laughing. Jace looked back at him. "I'm not _gay_," he said. "I actually have a girlfriend. I was simply curious as to why you were at a bar at twelve PM."

The bartender gave Jace a new glass, and he took a sip of it. "Well, now you know," he glanced at him. "And you? What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Hiding, I guess. I'm surprising my girlfriend, but I'm kind of nervous..."

Jace scoffed. "Why?" he wasn't particularly interested, but it was nice to have a distraction.

"... She's been kind of distant lately. I just..." he looked down at his empty glass. "Hey," he waved at the bartender. "Can I get another one of these?"

Jace laughed. He probably wouldn't have if he hadn't downed three scotches. "You just ordered another club soda, by the way."

The boy's eyes widened. "Scratch that," he said quickly.

Jace chuckled again.

"What's your name?" asked the boy.

"Jace."

He nodded. "Nice to meet you, _Jace_. I'm Adrian."

* * *

Skylar went up to Alec in the training room. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Alec was practicing throwing daggers. He stopped and looked at her. "Sure. What's up?"

Skylar paused several feet away from him and crossed her arms. "Where's Jace?"

Alec looked back at his target and threw another dagger.

"I know you know something."

Alec glanced back at her. "Tell you what. You beat me in a sword fight, I'll tell you. If I beat you, you tell me the answer to my question. Got it?"

Sky thought for a second, debating on whether or not she could beat Alec. "Fine. Done deal."

The corner of Alec's mouth pulled up. He set down the daggers on his hands, and went to the sword rack. He handed her a training sword and took a stance. "Ready?"

Sky took a deep breath, then went at him. He blocked, then came at her. She evaded faster than she thought was possible for her.

Their fight went around the room, and involved various weapons, but the sword always stayed. Finally, Sky jumped up on a stool, so she was taller, then came at him from overhead. He blocked her- as she hoped he would. She planted her foot on his unguarded chest and shoved him back. He stumbled back, surprised, and tripped over a fallen sword rack, and fell to the ground.

Skylar was quickly on him, disarming him, then putting her blade to his throat. She smiled and Alec looked surprised. "Now... Where's Jace?"

* * *

Jace had been at the bar all afternoon. It was evening now, and Jace felt exhausted. He'd had too many drinks, and he was thoroughly drunk now.

Adrian- whether this was that boy's name or not, Jace couldn't remember- had left awhile ago to go face his demons. At least someone could.

The bartender came up to him and gave him a concerned look. "Do you need to use a phone? Is there someone who could pick you up?"

Jace shook his head. "Not yet. I still want another."

The bartender let out a long breath and shook his head. "I can't do that," he said. "You could get alcohol poisoning. I'm surprised you haven't passed out yet."

Jace shrugged. "I have a higher tolerance than most people."

"That's nice," said the bartender. "But I still can't give you another."

"Fine," Jace said, angry. "I'll go somewhere else," Jace stood up, then fell over and groaned.

The bartender scoffed. "I don't think so. I'm going to ask you again, is there someone who can pick you up?"

Jace rolled onto his back. "No," he groaned. "I have no one."

He heard the bar door open, then someone ran up to him. "Oh my god," someone knelt beside him and was looking over him. _Clary_. No, not Clary... Skylar.

"Are you okay?" she looked concerned.

The bartender scoffed. "Do you know that idiot?"

"He isn't an idiot," she said, helping him sit up. "He's mourning someone he's lost."

Jace looked up at her. She looked kind, and like she knew how he felt. "Thank you."

She nodded. She assisted him in standing, then had him lean on her for support.

"Drinking won't make your problems go away," she said. "They'll numb them for awhile, but then they'll come back with your hangover."

Jace chuckled. "If you'd lost the girl you love, you'd be in there, too."

She looked at him for a long second, giving him a meaningful look.

"Have you ever lost someone you care about?" he leaned closer to her, so he was whispering in her ear.

She stiffened- from the question, or the nearness, Jace couldn't tell. "I've never lost anyone," she admitted. "But I think I know how you feel."

Jace stopped, stopping her, too. He looked at her now. "You couldn't possibly know how I feel, then," he said. "Like your entire life is permanently damaged. Clary is dead, and I can't bear it."

She looked at him for a long second, but didn't say anything.

"You look like her, you know," he said, drawing slightly closer to her. "You're both very beautiful."

She looked away and blushed. "We should get you back."

She looked like Clary when she blushed. "I mean it."

She glanced back up at him, still blushing. "You're drunk."

"Since when does me being drunk make you less pretty?"

She looked back at the ground.

"Would you kiss me if I asked you to?"

She looked sharply back at him. "You're dating my _sister_, Jace," she said firmly.

He'd forgotten about Brooke. He felt bad briefly, but forgot again after a few seconds. "That doesn't make you want me any less."

Her face turned scarlet, and she looked back at the ground. "Come on. Let's get you back before you say something you regret."

They started walking again. "I don't regret it," he said.

She didn't look back at him. "You will when you're sober- if you remember, that is. I won't tell Brooke. It'll only hurt her, and you shouldn't be held accountable for the things you do while drunk."

Jace let his face fall onto her shoulder.

Skylar held her hand out and waved down a taxi. She led him in, then sat next to him. He didn't hear what she said to the taxi driver, but he didn't care. He lie down across the seats and put his head on her lap. She stiffened for a moment, the relaxed. He felt her touch his hair with her fingertips. It felt nice.

"It's not that I don't like you, Jace," she murmured. "It's that I _shouldn't_."

* * *

Skylar was looking at Jace, asleep on her lap. He looked so different when he slept- innocent and relaxed. All the worry and sadness had left his face. He was just Jace now. Skylar couldn't help but smile at him.

"Alright," said the taxi driver. "We're here."

Skylar looked out the window at the Institute. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of money, and gave it to him. "Thanks," she shook Jace's shoulder lightly. "Jace?"

Jace groaned and wrapped his arm around her waist.

She stiffened and blushed. She patted the side of his face rapidly. "Jace, get up. We're here."

He opened his eyes and looked up at her. "Where are we?"

"The Institute. I can't carry you in, so you're going to have to walk. You can still lean on me if you need to."

Jace slowly sat up and ran his hand through his hair.

Sky opened the door and got out.

Jace stumbled out, and almost fell, but she caught him. She kicked the taxi door shut and waved as he left.

Jace leaned on her, and she walked him inside. "I'm sorry," he said as they walked into the elevator.

She was silent for several seconds. "It's okay."

The door opened and they started down the hall. "Which room is yours?"

He chuckled in her ear. "Of course you'd want to know."

"Jace," she said sternly. "Which one is yours?"

Jace chuckled again and rested his head on her shoulder.

She sighed. "Am I going to have to put you in the dining room then?"

"What about your room?" he whispered playfully in her ear.

She blushed. "Jace," she said again. "One last time."

Jace groaned. "That way," he pointed.

She walked in the direction he pointed.

They got to his room, and she sat him down on his bed. He fell back and chuckled again. "Won't you stay?"

"For a little bit," she said. "I'm leaving as soon as you're asleep."

"I'll stay up then," he smiled.

Skylar rolled her eyes. "Good luck with that."

Jace rotated so his head was on his pillow. "You're a very beautiful person, Skylar," he said. "Not just outside, but inside, too."

She looked down and blushed.

"Clary would've liked you."

She smiled a small smile at him.

"You can sit," he pat the bed next to him. "I won't try anything. Promise."

Sky sighed and sat next to him. His eyes drooped a little, then closed.

Sky looked around his room. It was very neat, she noticed. The only way she could tell it was his was from a picture frame on his nightstand of him with his arms wrapped around some redhead. She squinted and looked at it closer. She snatched it off the nightstand and stared at it. The redhead... It was _her_. No, not her, someone who looked just like her, but it wasn't her. This must be Clary.

In the picture, Jace and the girl were both smiling, and Jace's arms were wrapped around her. Clary had long, curly red hair, freckles, and green eyes. Sky noticed fingerprints on the glass exactly over Clary, and felt a pang inside her. Tears came to her eyes, but she blinked them away, confused.

She set the picture frame back on the nightstand, and left.

* * *

**So I finished writing chapter 5, but now I have a serious case of writer's block :/ I don't know what to do! I could use some help if any of you have any ideas or requests, I'll take them!**

**If you don't want any spoilers, don't read further! ...**

**Demon hunting trip with Isabelle, Adrian, Jace, Skylar/Clary and Alec. What should happen?**

**Wisterian Princess**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for the suggestions guys! And the positive reviews! I love you all! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

William Thyme looked at the poor, helpless girl on his work table. She looked different since his employer had given her the disguise rune. She no longer had red, curly hair and freckles, but long, honey colored hair, and tanned skin.

"William!" his employer called from across the room. "Have you finished yet?"

"Nearly there," said William. "So, what made you want to take in Clarissa Morgenstern?"

His employer's eyes widened. "How did you know who she was?"

William scoffed. "I've been through her memories. I know everything about her."

His employer walked up to Clarissa and crossed their arms. "This girl killed Jonathan, her brother. She also killed her father."

"I thought the Angel Raziel killed Valentine," said William.

"You _believe_ that?" his employer glanced up at him.

William shrugged. He wasn't sure what he believed in.

His employer eyed Clary with interest.

"Why haven't you killed her?" asked William. "If she killed Jonathan..."

His employer glared at him. "Believe me, I would," they snapped. "But she's too valuable to kill now. She has gifts. We'll be able to use her in the future, William. I trust you may access her mind when we need it?"

William nodded.

"Good. Can I trust you with an important task, my friend?"

William wasn't quite fond of his employer referring to him as his '_friend'_, but nodded.

"I'm going to need to go into hiding, William," they said. "I want you to hide me among them. I want to think that I'm one of them, and I want you to watch over everyone- as the trusted family warlock, maybe. Can you do this for me, William?"

William was surprised at his employer's request, but nodded. Maybe William could keep him from abducting any more helpless children. "Yes," he said. "I will hide you."

* * *

Adrian stood before the Institute. It looked pretty, like Sky had said. He had left the bar to come and stay with Sky and Brooke- he'd been secretly messaging Maryse Lightwood back and forth for the past week- but he wasn't sure if he could now. He'd gotten lost in transportation, and had lost all of his nerve.

He look a deep breath, and turned to leave, but stopped. He could feel in the pit of his stomach that he wasn't alone. "Who's there?" he called.

Someone stepped out of the shadows. A Shadowhunter.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Maryse Lightwood," she said. "Are you-"

"Adrian Foxwright," he was partially relieved, partially nervous that it was Maryse.

She came up to him and smiled. "I'm glad you made it. I was worried something had happened."

Adrian put his hands in his pockets. "Nope. I'm good."

"Good," Maryse opened the gate. "Welcome to New York."

* * *

Maryse led Adrian through the Institute. He took it all in with wide eyes. It was impressive, just as Skylar had said.

Maryse seemed to notice him staring. "You like it?"

"It's... Wow."

Maryse laughed. "That's _exactly_ what Skylar said when she first came here. She talks about you a lot, by the way."

Adrian raised his eyebrow. "Really?"

Maryse nodded. "She told us about your _parabatai_ story."

Adrian face darkened with embarrassment, and he looked down.

Maryse laughed again. "This is your room," she opened a door and gestured him inside.

He walked in and his eyes went wide. "... This is the _guest_ room?"

"One of them."

Adrian blinked.

"We're having dinner," she said. "You're welcome to join us."

"Thanks," Adrian set down his bag and followed Maryse down a different hallway into- what looked like- a dining room, and several people were in there, including Brooke.

Maryse cleared her throat and they all looked over. Brooke's eyes widened. "_Adrian_?"

The corner of Ardian's mouth pulled up. "Hey, Brooke."

Brooke jumped out of her seat and ran over to him, wrapping her arms around his. "Wow," she said. "Hi."

"Hey."

Brooke pulled back and looked him up and down. "Wow, you're taller."

"You're not," he smirked.

She scoffed, and turned to face the room. "Everyone, this is Adrian," she gestured to him. "Adrian, this is Alec, Maryse and Isabelle."

"Hi," said Isabelle.

"Hey," Adrian nodded at her.

"Sky is..." she frowned. "Somewhere. She hasn't come by yet," she looked back at Adrian and smiled. "Let's go find her. I'm sure she'll be pleased to see you."

"Okay," Adrian looked back at the others. "Nice meeting you all."

Brooke led him down another hall- one lined with paintings and busts. "So, are you staying here, then?" she asked.

"Visiting," Adrian corrected. "I kinda missed Sky- and you, of course."

Brooke giggled. "It's only been two weeks since you've seen her."

Adrian shrugged. "Still..."

"I totally get it," she elbowed him in the ribs lightly. "You can't stand to be away from your _future wife_."

Adrian blushed. "Come on. I was _seven_."

Brooke giggled. "Even so, very cute."

They stopped in front of a door, and Brooke knocked on it. "Sky? I've got something for you."

There was no answer.

"Sky?" she opened the door and poked her head in. "Adrian, she's asleep," she whispered, then took her head out. "You wake her up. I'll meet you back in the dining room."

Adrian nodded, and Brooke left. He cautiously walked into the room. Skylar was sprawled over her covers, sketchbook and pencil next to her.

Adrian smiled. He went up next to her. "Sky?" he said gently. "Skylar?" She didn't even stir. He touched her shoulder. "Skylar-"

Skylar's eyes suddenly shot open, and before Adrian knew what was happening, she had him pinned to the floor, hands around his throat. His eyes widened in surprise, and so did hers.

"_Adrian_?!" she released his neck and her hands went over her mouth. "Oh Raziel, I'm so sorry."

Adrian sat up. "Hey, don't worry," he gave her a crooked smile. "It's been awhile since you've been on top of me."

She blushed intensely.

Adrian laughed and pried her hands off her mouth so he could kiss her. She shook a little, laughing. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him properly, but briefly.

Skylar stood up and helped him up, too. "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting you," he smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not offended or anything," he said jokingly.

Skylar scoffed.

"I was sent to bring you to the dining room for dinner," he took her hand. "Unfortunately, I don't know where the dining room is, so you lead the way."

Skylar laughed. "I missed you."

He kissed her temple. "I missed you, too. Would your sister kill us if we just stayed in here and made out?"

Skylar laughed. "Yes. Sorry," she pulled him into the hall and they began walking.

"How're things at home?" she asked.

"Good. Aaron and I had a run in with a shark the other day while surfing. It didn't end well."

Skylar looked at him sharply.

"Well, for the shark anyway."

A smile broke across her face and she pulled her hand away from his to smack his arm. "Don't make jokes like that. They aren't funny," her expression turned half serious.

Adrian chuckled. "Yes they are."

Skylar rolled her eyes.

A door they were passing opened and Skylar stopped.

"Jace," she said. Adrian suddenly remembered him from the bar.

Jace looked between him and Sky. "Are you _stalking_ me?"

Skylar sighed. "How are you feeling?"

Jace looked at her. "Like I have a hangover, thank you," he looked back at Adrian. "You, why are you stalking me? I thought you said you were straight."

Adrian was annoyed with this guy now. "I am. Don't flatter yourself."

Skylar looked back and forth between the two. "Do you guys know each other?"

"Unfortunately," said Jace.

Adrian glared at him. "So, you're _Brooke's_ Jace."

"Not necessarily," Jace and Adrian obviously didn't like each other anymore. Jace had gone from being a sad man mourning his love, to a douche bag. "I'm just Jace. I belong to no one in particular."

"_Anyway_," said Skylar, cutting in. "Jace, this is Adrian, my boyfriend."

Jace suddenly was glaring at Adrian. His eyes widened when he realized why he would. He liked Sky. "The one who proposed to you at age six?"

Adrian burned with anger.

"_Seven_," said Sky, sounding like she was loosing her patience. "And he didn't _propose_," she walked past him into his room. Jace and Adrian both frowned at this.

Adrian walked up beside Jace, who was now looking into his room.

Skylar picked something up off the nightstand- a glass of mint green liquid. "Here," she handed it to Jace.

Jace took it and looked at it. "What is it?"

"For hangovers," Sky looked slightly pissed off, which made Adrian smile a little. "We'll see you in the dining room," she left his room and pulled Adrian along with her.

"What was that about?" he asked.

Skylar sighed. "Nothing."

* * *

"Adrian's kind of cute," said Isabelle.

Brooke snickered. "I won't tell Simon you said that."

Isabelle shrugged. "It isn't a crime to find someone attractive, that's all I'm saying."

Alec rolled his eyes.

"He surfs, too," said Brooke.

Isabelle wiggled her eyebrows. "Well then."

Brooke laughed.

Adrian and Skylar came in then, holding hands.

"Surprise," said Maryse.

Skylar smiled at her. "Thank you _so_ much, Maryse."

"Not at all," she smiled. "Anytime."

Adrian sat down across from Brooke, and Skylar sat next to him.

"So," said Alec. "You're the infamous Adrian."

Adrian raised his eyebrows. "Infamous?"

Skylar blushed, and Adrian smirked.

Adrian was a little like Jace, in Brooke's opinion. They did, however, have a difference when it came to being cocky- which Adrian wasn't.

"Skylar talks about you all the time," said Isabelle.

"She does," said Jace, walking in. He didn't look like he was in a particularly good mood.

"Are you okay?" asked Brooke. Sky had told her earlier that he'd been at a bar all day, and that she brought him home. Brooke had been worrying about Jace since.

Jace sat down next to Brooke and across from Sky. He gave her a small smile. "Fine."

Brooke's worry left her instantly, and she smiled.

Jace looked at Skylar. "Sorry," he said just loud enough for her to hear.

Sky gave a small smile and nodded.

Adrian seemed to notice their exchange, and a look of angry curiosity crossed his face. Brooke wondered why.

"Jace," said Maryse. "This is Adrian Foxwright. Adrian, this is Jace Lightwood."

Jace smiled at Adrian- a fake smile, Brooke noticed. "Nice to meet you," it sounded completely insincere.

"The pleasure's all mine," said Adrian. The two obviously didn't like each other. Maybe because they're both used to being the most attractive, Brooke thought? In her opinion, they were equally attractive.

"Adrian, how's Thea?" Brooke asked.

"She's good," Adrian smiled at the thought of his little sister. "She finally tried surfing."

Brooke smiled at the thought. "How'd she do?"

"Terribly," he chuckled. "She fell off and almost drown. Aaron had to pull her out."

Brooke gasped. "Is she okay?"

Adrian nodded. "Yeah. I think she actually liked it," he scoffed.

Sky furrowed her brow.

"He gave her mouth to mouth," he clarified.

Skylar snorted.

Brooke cover her mouth, trying not to laugh.

Adrian smiled fondly. "She's not allowed to surf again."

"I should hope not," said Brooke, still trying not to laugh.

"Thea is... Your little sister, right?" said Maryse.

Adrian nodded. "That's right."

"She's kind of like _the_ little sister," said Sky. "Since she's fifteen, and everyone else is over eighteen."

"Ah," Maryse nodded. "That sounds nice- having everyone look out for each other."

Brooke smiled. It was nice. She missed it.

Maryse pulled out her phone and looked at it for a long time, then frowned.

"What is it?" asked Alec.

"Demons," Maryse looked up. "Anyone feel like going demon hunting?"

* * *

**Still in the process of writing chapter 6. I CAN'T GET IT RIGHT! I keep deleting and re-writing it :(**

**Dang. What's happened to my inspiration?! I was writing non-stop just the other day :p**

**Unfortunately****, since I have not written the next chapter yet, there will be no sneak peek. Sorry :(**

**I will tell you a spoiler, though: demon hunting as a group. I suppose that was obvious...**

**I'm going to start answering some of your questions on Twitter. My username is WisterianPrince**

**Thanks to my followers! I love you guys!**

**Wisterian Princess**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, currently writing chapter 7! I hope you guys like this chapter. I'm a little nervous about it, actually...**

**Here you go, chapter 6!**

* * *

Adrian, Alec, Brooke, Isabelle, Jace and Skylar all walked into- what looked like- an abandoned hospital.

"This looks like it was up and running in the nineteen forties," said Adrian.

"It might have been," said Isabelle.

They were all quiet for a few seconds, listening. "We should split up," said Alec.

"Good idea," said Isabelle.

"I'll go with Sky," said Adrian.

"Actually," Said Brooke. "Why don't you go with Isabelle, or Jace? You should get to know someone you don't know."

"Isabelle," Adrian said quickly.

Isabelle raised her eyebrow. "Okay."

"I'll go with Brooke," said Alec.

Brooke looked at him, a little surprised. "... Okay."

"And Sky could go with Jace," said Isabelle.

Adrian didn't look too happy about this.

"... Sure," said Sky. "We'll take the second floor."

"We'll take the first," said Alec.

"And I guess we'll take the third," said Isabelle. "Let's go," they started up the staircase.

Sky started up, too, and Jace followed her.

* * *

"... I wanted to ask you something," said Alec.

Brooke raised her eyebrows at him. "What is it?"

Alec looked at the floor, choosing his words carefully. "Was Skylar... Adopted?"

Brooke frowned. "No... Where did this come from?"

Alec scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. She just kind of looks like..."

Brooke waited several seconds for him to continue. "... Like what?"

Alec cleared his throat and looked at her. "Clary."

Brooke stopped and so did Alec. "She looks like _Clary_? Jace's ex-_girlfriend_?"

"... Forget I said anything," said Alec, then started walking again.

Brooke caught up to him. "Is that why everyone was staring at her her first day?"

Alec didn't look at her. "I said forget it."

Brooke caught his arm, stopping him. "No, I want to hear what else you had to say. How much does she look like Clary?"

Alec hesitated.

"How much?"

"... Skylar could probably put on a wig and be mistaken for her."

Brooke looked at a spot on the floor. "... Poor Jace," she released Alec's arm and started walking again. "... I've been hurting him this whole time... I didn't..."

"It's fine," said Alec. "I don't think he's upset by it anymore."

"Good."

They both heard a growl and looked ahead. A demon that looked like a four-armed Medusa was approaching them.

Alec drew and arrow. Brooke activated her seraph blade.

The demon's snake-hair wriggled around, and the demon hissed again.

Alec shot it in the chest. It cried out, and it's snake-hair grew, and came at them. Brooke swiped her sword, and decapitated the snakes. Black ichor poured out of the stubs, and the demon squealed.

Alec drew another arrow, and hit it in the eye. Its screams stopped, and it dropped to the ground, coiling into itself.

* * *

Isabelle glanced at Adrian out of the corner of her eye. He hadn't said anything since they'd started walking together. He looked distracted.

"Do you often space out while demon hunting?"

He blinked and looked over at her. "What?"

She snorted. "Exactly. What were you thinking about?"

He looked back ahead. "Nothing."

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "This whole _getting to know each other thing_ is a two person effort."

He looked at her. "What's you're favorite color?"

Isabelle snorted. "Not what I meant."

"Well, I tried," he looked back ahead, but had a crooked smile on his face.

Isabelle smiled slightly and rolled her eyes. "Black."

He looked back at her. "That's unexpected."

Isabelle shrugged.

"If you must know, I was thinking about Skylar."

Isabelle smiled slightly. "You'd rather go with her than me?"

"That's not what I-"

"I get it. She's your girlfriend."

Adrian looked ahead. "Truth be told, I don't like that Jace guy going with her."

Isabelle snorted. "'_That Jace guy_'?"

Adrian glanced back at her.

"Do I sense jealousy?"

Adrian scoffed. "No."

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Boys."

* * *

"There's one straight ahead," said Jace, looking up from his tracker.

"Ariel," Skylar whispered. Her seraph blade lit up.

A demon that looked like a cross between a frog, and a snake with dozens of eyes came into view. Its forked tongue came out of its mouth, and it hissed.

"Turpis demon," said Skylar.

Jace scoffed. "Got that right."

The demon began to run towards them. Jace and Skylar went to either side of the hall. The demon went for Jace first. He slashed it's face, and it make a noise that sounded like a tea kettle.

Skylar came up to it from the other side, and drove the sword into it's side. It made the sound again. It dropped to the floor, and vanished.

"Another," said Jace, looking ahead.

Skylar gripped her sword firmly as the demon came at them. It resembled a spider. Sky ran at it, then slid under it as it passed. She got to her feet, and pointed the sword at it. The giant spider had stopped, rotating itself to try and choose who to go after. While it was turned towards Skylar, Jace cut off one of its legs.

It didn't make a sound, but whipped around to face him. Sky cut off another one of the legs, and it turned back around. Finally, Jace stabbed the back of the thing. It fell, and folded into itself.

"Nice one," said Sky.

Jace looked at his arm. There was a cut on it, which blood was pouring out of.

Skylar gasped, then pulled out her stele. She walked up to him and drew an _iratze_ next to the cut. She looked up at him. "You okay?"

He swallowed, then nodded.

Skylar realized at that moment how close they were. Her breath stopped in her chest, and her heart sped up. Why didn't Adrian ever make her feel this way, she wondered?

Jace was dangerously close to her- inches apart. Sky let out a shaky, slow breath. "Jace... I-"

He cut her off by kissing her. Her eyes widened at first, but she closed them, dropped her sword, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He was an amazing kisser. Kissing him felt like relief- like she'd been waiting to kiss him for a long time.

Jace wrapped one arms around her back, and their kiss deepened. He turned her around and pressed her up against the wall. Their lips parted for a brief second to take a breath, then they went back to kissing.

* * *

"You okay?" Skylar asked.

Jace swallowed. She was standing so close to him now. There were a few seconds of silence as Sky looked up at him.

She let out a shaky breath. "Jace... I-"

He cut her off by kissing her. His lips went down on her with urgency. He'd wanted to kiss her so badly- since she'd first come to the Institute. He'd had the urge to take her into his arms the second he'd seen her. She looked so much like Clary. Her voice, her smile, her smell... Even the way she kissed him. She tasted like apples, and mint lip balm- just like Clary had.

Skylar dropped her sword, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He wanted this. Her being like Clary gave Jace the urge to tell her he loved her, but he fought against it. Sky wasn't Clary. She wasn't, but she _was_. She had to be. No one else could ever make him feel the way he did right now. He had lost control.

Jace wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her closer, and their kiss deepened. He turned her around and pressed her up against the wall. Their lips parted for a brief second to take a breath, then they went back to kissing. He couldn't stop. His hand went into her hair, and he pulled her closer to him. Electricity ran through his veins as his heart beat faster.

Suddenly, an image of Clary came to his mind- the one of her dead in his arms. He broke away from Skylar instantly. They were a few feet apart now, breathing hard. Skylar looked dazed, her hair slightly messy.

Jace swallowed as he thought of Clary again. "... I'm sorry," he said.

Skylar looked at the ground, then picked up her seraph blade. She was completely flushed. She started down the hall again, leaving Jace staring after her.

* * *

After they got home, Skylar went straight to her room. Adrian was going to go after her to ask what was wrong, but Brooke stopped him.

"She's probably just tired," she reasoned. "Let her sleep."

Adrian sighed. "... Would you mind showing me where my room is? I kinda forgot," he said, blushing slightly.

Brooke snickered. "Sure."

They started down the hall. "I really missed you, Adrian."

Adrian smiled. "Yeah, I missed you, too. Why didn't you call me over the past year?"

Brooke opened her mouth to say something, but didn't. She shrugged.

"... Would it feel weird?"

Brooke looked at him. "Why would it be weird?"

Adrian looked at the ground and blushed again. Brooke thought he looked especially cute when he blushed. "... Thea told me you had a thing for me."

Brooke's eyes widened. "I... No, I didn't."

Adrian scratched the back of his head, clearly embarrassed. "Sorry... I didn't believe her at first, but it did explain..."

Brooke looked at the floor and blushed. The truth was, she _did_ used to have a thing for Adrian. He was a year younger, and dating her sister... Sky had always gotten the best guys. They were all sweet, and cute, and were head over heels for her. "Nope," she said. "Sorry to disappoint you, but not all girls have a thing for you."

"I wasn't..." Brooke hadn't realized they'd stopped. They were in front of Adrian's room now.

"Um..." Brooke cleared her throat. "We're here.

Adrian looked at his door, then back at Brooke. "Right. Good night," he went into his room and shut the door.

Brooke let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

* * *

Skylar sat in her room, sketching furiously without paying attention to what she was drawing. What was she _thinking_? _Kissing_ Jace? He was her sister's _boyfriend_! Wait, did _he_ kiss _her_, or did _she_ kiss _him_? She couldn't remember.

She locked her jaw. She had just betrayed her sister, her best friend, her parabatai, and her boyfriend. Adrian. She'd just cheated on the best thing that had ever happened to her.

Somehow, it felt hollow- all of it. Like nothing else mattered. It didn't matter that Brooke was her sister, it didn't matter that she had a boyfriend, all that mattered was her and Jace. She hated herself for how selfish she was being. She had kissed Jace knowing all of this. What would happen if everyone found out. Brooke and Adrian would be devastated, heartbroken...

Skylar felt tears come to her eyes as her pencil tip snapped. She looked over the face that she'd drawn. He looked so familiar...

An image came to her mind. It was this face, cut and bloody. He was lying on the ground, sword sticking out of the right side of his chest. Thick, red blood was staining his white shirt as it poured out, and a puddle formed around him.

She dropped the sketchpad. It fell to the ground with a thump, snapping her out of her thoughts. She got out of her bed, ripped out the page, and crumpled it up.

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7

Twelve-year-old Mckenzie Silverwood stood in her backyard across from her best friend, Miles Stormwell. They both held three-foot-long sticks in their right hands.

"Ready?" asked Miles.

Mckenzie smiled. "Always," she made the first move, swinging her stick at him, and Miles deflected. She tried again from another angle, and he blocked it again. He came at her this time, and hit her leg.

Miles grinned. "You have to hop on one foot now."

She stuck her tongue out at him, and started hopping on her left foot. Miles swiped again, and Mckenzie hit his stick out of his hand. He looked surprised as Mckenzie leapt on top of him, and they both fell to the ground, laughing.

"Got you," said Mckenzie, giggling. Her blonde curls fell around his face.

Miles laughed from underneath her. "I _let_ you win," he said, looking into her sage green eyes with his black-brown ones.

Mckenzie rolled her eyes. "Why do boys always say that?"

They both laughed again.

A scream came from inside the house, and they both looked up. "Mom?" Mckenzie got up and ran inside. Miles followed.

Mckenzie ran into the front room and screamed. Mckenzie's mother was fighting off a demon, and her father was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, dead.

Her mother was sobbing as she fought against the demon. Another came from behind her.

"Mom! Look out!" Mckenzie screamed, but it was too late. The demon's claw went through her back and came out of her chest. Mckenzie screamed again.

Her mother fell to the ground. Mckenzie tried to run to her, but someone picked her up from behind. She kicked and screamed. "Miles!" she called. "MILES!"

"Let her go!" Miles yelled.

The demon turned around. Miles stood there, stick in hand, and came at it. He beat the stick against it's leg. "Let. Her. Go!"

Another demon came from the doorway.

"Miles, look out!"

Miles turned just in time for the demon to yank the stick out of his hand, and hit him in the face with it.

"No!" Mckenzie screamed.

Miles fell to the ground, and the demon picked him up.

"No!" Mckenzie's strength was no match for the demon, who held her easily. "Let him go!" she sobbed.

Miles was struggling in the demon's arms, too, calling her name as it took him away. "Mckenzie!" he yelled. "MCKENZIE!" the demon took him out of the house.

"MILES!" Mckenzie called. "No!"

* * *

"... Skylar... Skylar... Skylar!"

Skylar blinked and looked up. Brooke was looking at her expectantly, and so was everyone else at the table. "Sorry?"

"I asked you how you and Jace did yesterday," said Brooke.

"Oh," Sky looked back down at her plate. "Fine. We got two demons."

"That's more than the rest of us got," said Isabelle. "Adrian and I didn't come across any."

Brooke looked at Isabelle. "Oh, how'd that go? Did you two get to know each other a bit?"

"Yeah," said Isabelle. "We bonded a little. He mostly talked about Skylar, though."

Brooke snickered. "As to be expected."

Skylar pressed her lips together.

"Um..." Skylar looked up. In the doorway was Adrian, in pajamas, like her and Brooke had done previously.

"Oh, forgot to tell you..." said Brooke. She turned to Sky. "Could you show Adrian back to his room to change?"

"Yeah," Sky stood up and walked out of the dining room, Adrian following her.

"Well, that's embarrassing," he said. "I'm glad Jace wasn't there to see that."

Sky nodded absentmindedly.

"Hey..." he put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her, and turned her to face him. "You okay?"

She tried to smile at him. "Yeah," she quick kissed him on the lips," morning.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her closer. He gave her a smile, then kissed her properly.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. Adrian was a good kisser, granted, but he wasn't the same as Jace. Jace made electricity shoot through her veins, Adrian made her feel safe. Skylar pushed Jace out of her mind, and tried to enjoy her kiss with Adrian.

"Hope I'm not interrupting..."

Skylar looked over to see Jace. Adrian didn't release her.

Jace was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, managing to look more like a model than a Shadowhunter. He stood there with his arms crossed, looking right at Sky.

Adrian nodded at him. "Jace."

Jace nodded back without taking his eyes off Sky. "Adrian."

Skylar cleared her throat and released Adrian. "Down the hall, thirteenth door to your right. Can you get there?"

"Yeah," said Adrian, kissing her again briefly. He walked down the hall, and Skylar was left alone with Jace.

"Kissing me one minute, then kissing another man the next," he said flatly. "That's-"

"Jace," she cut him off. "I..." she bit her lip and looked at the floor. "Jace, Brooke is my sister. And... I have Adrian. Can we just... Pretend the kiss never happened?"

She risked a look up at Jace. He looked hurt, but hard at the same time. "Fine," he said. "It never happened," he walked down the hall towards the dining room.

Skylar let out a shaky breath, then walked down the hall in the opposite direction. She went to a room- which she hoped was the one she was looking for- and opened the door. It was the right room. Adrian stood there, looking a little surprised, wearing only jeans, and holding his t-shirt in his hands.

"... Sky, I was just-"

She went over to him, pulled his face down to her's, and kissed him. He seemed a little surprised at first, but kissed her back after a second. He grabbed her waist, and kissed her harder.

"I love you," she said against him lips.

"... I love you, too."

* * *

"Morning Jace," said Brooke, smiling.

"Morning," he mumbled, sitting down.

"Are you okay?" she furrowed her brow, concerned.

Jace looked at her and smiled gently. "I'm fine," he gave her a quick kiss, then served himself some french toast.

He hadn't thought about Brooke before, but he felt guilty now. Brooke was a perfectly nice, smart girl, and she wouldn't have done something like what he did. He'd kissed her sister.

He wanted to be with Skylar, but he didn't want to hurt Brooke- not again. She was kind, and she gave him space when he needed it. She'd never asked him to do anything, ever, and she always would wait for him. He swallowed now, not used to feeling guilty.

He remembered what Skylar had said. She wanted it to be like the kiss had never happened at all. Then it would be. Things would go back to how they were before the demon hunting trip.

* * *

After breakfast, Brooke slipped into Jace's room. She'd never been in there before. It was neat, and organized. There was a picture frame sitting on his nightstand. This was what she was looking for.

She walked over and picked it up. Her eyes widened. In the picture, Jace had his arms around a redheaded girl- a girl whose face was identical to Skylar's.

This girl's only differences from Sky were her fair skin, freckles, green eyes, and red, curly hair. She was pretty.

Brooke bit her bottom lip. She hadn't even considered this before, but what if Jace was not only hurting over seeing a girl who looked just like Clary every day, but... What if she was attracted to her?

Brooke set the picture frame down and dismissed the thought. That was ridiculous.

She turned around, and left the room.

* * *

_Jace held Clary's limp body in his arms. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't be dead._

_Jace felt tears roll down his face. He hadn't cried since he was a child. He hadn't had reason to, not till now._

_He closed her eyes gently, so she could be sleeping, and kissed her gently. "I'm so sorry," he murmured. "I can't tell you how sorry I am, Clary," he closed his eyes and held her close to him._

_Someone came into the room, but he didn't care if it was someone here to kill him._

_"... Jace..." it was Isabelle. Jace still didn't move. Isabelle walked over and knelt beside him. "Jace, is..." she trailed off. "... Did she..." Isabelle's voice was a whisper now. She'd realized what had happened. "Oh, Jace, I'm so sorry..." she touched his back, but he shifted away from her._

"Jace!"

Jace sat up rapidly and gripped the shoulders of whoever was in front of him. They gasped in the dark.

"Jace," they said again. Their voice... It wasn't possible.

"... Clary?"

"No," they said. "It's me, Skylar."

His grip on her shoulders tightened slightly as he let his head hang forward. He was glad it was so dark, she wouldn't be able to see how fragile he felt. "I'm sorry..." he tried to compose himself.

"Don't apologize," she said. "... Are you okay? I was in the hall, and you..."

Jace swallowed. "I thought..." he tried to compose himself again.

"I know," she said. "I'm sorry..."

"Can you stay?" he asked, surprising himself.

She stiffened slightly, he could feel it in her shoulders. "... If you'd like..." she crawled up next to him and slid under the covers. She put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

Jace shook his head. "No, you were right. I'm sorry for kissing you."

Her grip on his shoulder tightened slightly, and he lie back down. "Go back to sleep," she said. Her voice was a comfort to him. It was like Clary was comforting him rather than Skylar. He drifted off quickly.

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8!**

**Thanks for all the reviews! I'm answering some questions on twitter if anyone wants to check that out :) My username is WisterianPrince**

**Anyway, I hop you like this chapter :)**

* * *

"Are you sure you can do this, William?" his employer asked him.

William scoffed. "Of course I can do this. I'm the greatest warlock that has ever lived."

His employer frowned. "Now isn't the time for you to entertain yourself, William. I need to know everything you can do to their minds."

William sighed. "I can erase their memories, then I can plant new ones. I can make them love anyone I want. I can give them new lives, and believe everything. They will be put into this family, and believe their names are Ravenwalker. If they remember fragments from their past, they will be quickly forgotten, and if their runes get damaged, they will fix them themselves without even knowing they've done so. And no one will be able to access her mind."

His employer smiled. "Excellent."

* * *

Skylar woke up her her own bedroom. After Jace had fallen asleep the night before, Sky had gone back to her own room.

She thought about Jace. She hadn't even thought about how much pain he must be in. What it must be like to have the person you love most in the world die in your arms. No wonder he called out her name at night...

Skylar got out of bed, and went into the shower. She spent a long time in there, trying not to think about Jace, or Adrian, or Brooke. She tried to concentrate on what the sunset looked like back home, and how she would go out her back door and watch the sun set over the ocean. It calmed her.

She got out of the shower, and wrapped a towel around herself. She closed her eyes, and allowed herself to stand in the steamy room for a moment before leaving the bathroom. She jumped when she saw someone standing in her bedroom.

Adrian had a piece of paper in his hands. He glanced up at her, and his eyes went wide. She blushed at him seeing her in a towel.

"... Sk- Skylar, um..." he pressed his lips together and felt at his neck. "I was just... I can go if-"

"It's fine," Sky gave him a nervous smile. "What's up?"

Adrian cleared his throat and looked directly at her face. "I wanted to ask if anything happened yesterday while demon hunting."

Skylar's eyes widened. Did he know?

"It's just... that night and yesterday, you were kind of... Upset," he looked her right in the eyes. "Did Jace do something?"

"No," Sky was kind of relieved. "No, of course not," that is, if _she_ kissed _him_.

"Okay," Adrian looked at the floor again. "I'm gonna... Go," he walked to the door and walked out.

Sky sighed. So much for her being relaxed.

* * *

"Where are they this time?" asked Isabelle.

"An abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn," said Alec

Brooke slid a dagger into a sheath on her thigh. Her, Sky, Adrian, Jace, Isabelle and Alec were all going demon hunting again.

"Brooklyn," Adrian scoffed. "Why can't they choose nicer places to prowl around?"

Sky scoffed. "Come on, Brooklyn isn't _that_ bad."

Jace looked up at her.

Adrian rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say."

* * *

They walked into the warehouse. It was dark, and dusty. Skylar pulled out her stele and drew a nightvision rune on herself.

"Should we split up again?" asked Isabelle.

"I'll go with Sky," said Adrian, putting his arm around her shoulders.

Brooke looked over. "Jace?"

He smiled at her. "After you."

"Guess I'm stuck with Alec," Isabelle elbowed him playfully in the ribs.

They all went in different directions.

* * *

"... I'm sorry," said Brooke.

Jace frowned. "For what?"

"I... I saw a picture of Clary."

Jace looked away, straight ahead.

"I had no idea how much she looked like my sister. That must be painful for you."

He swallowed. "Not really. I've gotten used to it."

Brooke put her hand on his shoulder and stopped him. "Jace. I'm so, so sorry. I wouldn't have..."

"... You wouldn't have invited your sister if you'd known?" Jace raised an eyebrow. "And be away from your _parabatai_ for longer? I'm fine, Brooke. I don't want you to worry about me."

Brooke smiled. She really had the perfect boyfriend, didn't she? "I love you," her smiled dropped. She hadn't meant to say it.

Jace looked really surprised.

"I..." Brooke suddenly sensed a demon. She turned away from Jace and pulled out her seraph blade.

Jace had obviously sensed it, too. He looked ready.

They both looked around, but didn't see anything. Brooke walked slowly forward, looking around carefully. She suddenly was knocked back, and was on the ground, something on top of her, but she couldn't see anything. She made a sound of surprise.

She threw the demon off her with all her might, and stood back up. It couldn't have been that big considering how easily she could throw it. She held her seraph blade before her, ready.

"... Brooke?" Jace sounded slightly confused.

"Jace, I think it's invisible," said Brooke. "Be care-" Brooke suddenly felt pain in her chest- like she'd been stabbed. She screamed, and fell to the ground.

"Brooke!"

Brooke wasn't facing him, but it sounded like Jace was currently fighting it. She rolled over, crying out in pain as she did. Jace was whipping around his blade blindly. Brooke saw something behind him- floating blood.

"Behind you!" she screamed.

Jace whipped around and slashed the thing. It screeched, and black ichor began running down its chest- making it more visible.

Skylar didn't see anything else before she blacked out.

* * *

"... You don't want me here, do you?" said Adrian.

"Hm?" Skylar hadn't really been concentrating on what he was saying.

Adrian pressed his lips together. "Exactly."

Skylar blinked. "Sorry, just distracted, that's all."

"Sky..."

She looked around carefully. Something felt... Off.

"Skylar Arianna Ravenwalker," Adrian grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.

She sighed.

He looked at her seriously. "Skylar, is me being here making you unhappy?"

She blinked at him. "What? Why would-"

Just then, they heard a scream.

Both their eyes widened.

"Who was that?" Sky asked urgently.

"Brooke." Adrian had already started running. Sky's eyes widened, and she ran after him.

Adrian seemed to know exactly where she was. He ran straight to her, while Skylar paused when she saw Jace swatting his sword at midair. Her brows furrowed, then she noticed black ichor outlining parts of a body. An invisible demon?

Sky ran over to where Jace was, and started swatting at the places she could see. Her and Jace were on opposite sides of the thing, both working to fight something they couldn't see. Finally, Jace pierced the thing through the chest. It let out a horrible screeching sound, the fell to the ground, and turned visible. Then, it shimmered, and disappeared.

Jace and Sky looked at each other for a few seconds.

"Guys," said Adrian. They both looked over. "She isn't healing."

Jace and Skylar both ran over and put the seraph blades into their belts. They knelt beside her.

Brooke was bleeding a lot, and she was unconscious.

"Oh god," said Skylar.

"Skylar?" called Isabelle's voice from the distance. "Jace?"

"Isabelle, we're over here," Jace called back.

Isabelle and Alec ran over. "Oh my god," said Isabelle.

"I'll call Magnus," said Alec.

* * *

Jace lie Brooke down on one of the infirmary's beds.

Sky ran over and gripped one of Brooke's hands. "You're gonna be fine, Brooke," she tested the parabatai connection in her head. It felt slightly different, but she could still feel her clearly.

Magnus hovered his hands over her momentarily. "Translucens demon poison," said Magnus. "Not too bad. She'll be out for awhile, but this won't even kill her," he shrugged. "I can't actually do anything. She'll have to sleep it off."

"Like a hangover?" said Jace.

Magnus shrugged again. "It does leave your mind a bit clouded, though," Magnus hovered his hands over her face. "But I can..." he trailed off and frowned. "... That's... Odd."

"What?" said Alec and Skylar at the same time.

"She's... Magnus' frown deepened. "That's incredible..."

"What?" Sky pressed. "What is it?"

Magnus took his hands away from her. "She's got a block on her mind."

Adrian frowned. "A block?"

"I can't access her mind at all," said Magnus. "It's the most powerful one I've ever seen. Even more powerful than the one I did on Clarissa."

Adrian frowned. "Who's Clarissa? And why would Brooke have a block on her mind?"

Magnus shrugged. "You could always try the Silent Brothers, but I doubt they'd be much help. As for your first question, why don't you ask someone else that..." he looked at Alec. "All you can do is wait for her to wake up. Alec, walk me to the door?"

Alec nodded, and followed him out.

"... Why would Brooke have a block on her mind?" asked Isabelle.

"Beats me," said Sky.

"Who's Clarissa?" Adrian asked again.

"None of your concern," Jace spat.

Sky payed no mind to the situation. She was only focused on Brooke.

* * *

**What did you think? I'll try to post chapter 9 tomorrow.  
**

**Sneak peeks at my website (listed in my profile) and other stuff on twitter (link also in my profile)**

**Any more requests? I'll do my best to see to them. I noticed a lot of you wanted Clary/Sky to spend the night in Jace's room, but unfortunately, I had already finished this chapter when you posted those. I am open to other suggestions, though :) If you have any, review or PM me :)**

**Thanks!**

**Wisterian Princess**


	9. Chapter 9

"We should take a picture," said Clary, taking out a camera.

Jace furrowed his brow. "Why?"

"Because," Clary walked up to a woman pushing a stroller. "Excuse me, could you take our picture?"

Jace didn't know why mundanes would do that- ask strangers favors. It was odd.

The woman smiled. "Of course," she took the camera from Clary's hands.

Clary ran over to Jace and stood next to him. "What do you want to see in this photo?" Clary asked.

Jace wrapped his arms around Clary, and they both smiled.

The woman held up the camera, and the light flashed. "Cute," she said.

Clary went over to her and took the camera. "Thanks."

* * *

Adrian was sitting on the hospital bed next to Brooke's. Jace was asleep on the one on the opposite side, and Sky on the one next to him. It was late at night, and everyone else had either gone of fallen asleep.

He watched Brooke's chest slowly rise and fall. She looked peaceful right now, but also like she was sedated. She might as well have been.

Her eyes fluttered open. Adrian stood up and walked over. "Hey," he said.

She looked at him and smiled. "Hey."

He sat down on the bed next to her. "How're you feeling?"

Her smile faded. "... You don't..."

Adrian frowned. "Brooke, what's wrong?"

She swallowed. "Before I'm gone again, I wanted to thank you."

"Gone?" Adrian took her hand. "Brooke, you aren't gonna die. Magnus said-"

She put her index finger to her lips, and he stopped talking. "I wanted to thank you for saving me," she said.

"I didn't save you," he said.

She gave a small, sad smile. "You tried."

He smiled gently at her.

"Try to remember," she said, then her eyes closed, and she was asleep again.

* * *

Awhile later, Adrian looked up as Alec walked in.

"How is she?" asked Alec.

"Sleeping," said Adrian.

Alec put his hands in his pockets and nodded. "... Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Adrian frowned. "Sure..."

He followed Alec out of the infirmary. Once they were out, Alec took something out of his pocket. "You wanted to know who Clarissa was," he handed it to Adrian. It was a photo. "This is her."

Adrian looked at the photo with wide eyed. The picture was on Jace cuddled up close to a girl who looked just like Skylar- but with freckles, and curly, red hair. Jace looked... Happy. "... What is this...?"

"That's Clarissa Fray- or Clary- Jace's girlfriend."

Adrian looked up at Alec. Jace had _two_ girlfriends? "That lying, cheating-"

"Clary's dead," Alec said quickly.

Adrian eyes widened. "Oh."

"She died three years ago."

"... Is that why Jace is so..." Adrian couldn't find the right word.

"Yeah," said Alec. "Clary was also known by a different name that you may or may not know."

Adrian raised an eyebrow.

"Clarissa Morgenstern."

Adrian's eyes went wide. He _had_ heard that name. "Oh..."

"Magnus thought I should tell you. I don't know why," Alec put his hands back in his pockets, and left.

* * *

"There isn't much time," a voice whispered in Jace's ear. "I'm going to disappear again in a minute. Just remember the name 'Thyme'. He did this to us. He killed Clary."

Jace bolted upright. He was in the infirmary, and he'd fallen asleep on one of the beds. He let out a breath, and massaged his temples with his index fingers.

"Are you alright?"

Jace looked over. Adrian was looking at him with a slightly surprised, slightly concerned look on his face.

Jace let out a breath and composed himself. "Fine."

Adrian looked at him for a long time. "I know about Clary."

Jace looked at him sharply.

Adrian had a defeated look on his face. "That's why you like Sky, isn't it?"

"... I don't like-"

"Save it," Adrian, snapped, then looked away from him. "It's obvious that you like her, and she likes you, too."

Jace's eyes widened.

Adrian looked back at him with a hard expression. "I won't let you hurt Brooke, though, do you understand me? She means a lot to me, and she would be very hurt if you left her for her sister."

Jace swallowed, unsure of what to say.

Adrian stood up, and left the infirmary.

* * *

Brooke's eyes fluttered open. She was in the infirmary. Sunlight was starting to come through the windows, signifying it was morning. Everything was kind of... Shiny. She frowned, remembering the previous night- or, at least, some nights ago...

She sat up slowly and stretched. Adrian was on the bed next to her, sitting up, but sleeping. On his other side was Sky, and on Brooke's other side was Jace.

Adrian stirred, and opened his eyes. He smiled when he saw her. "Morning."

She put her arms behind her to support herself and let her head hang back. "Morning," she said, smiling.

Adrian chuckled and got up. He sat down on her bed. "How are you feeling?"

She smiled. "Lovely. And how are you, Adrian?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "I'm good... Are you sure you're alright? You're acting strange."

She frowned. "I am?" She lie her head on her own shoulder and looked at him with a puppy-face.

Adrian chuckled again, eyebrow still furrowed. "Yeah."

Brooke noticed he had a bag slung over his shoulder. "Going somewhere?"

He looked away. "Uh, yeah. I'm going home."

Brooke sat up properly and frowned. "Why?"

Adrian swallowed, then looked back at Brooke. He looked at her for a long time. "I'm not a city person."

"You're lying," said Brooke. "What's wrong?" she made a pouty face. "I can tell you're sad."

He swallowed and looked away. "I'll see you later, Brooke," he looked back at her. "Take care of Sky, okay?"

Brooke nodded. "Okay."

Adrian put his hand on her shoulder, then kissed her forehead.

Brooke closed her eyes and absorbed the sensation. It felt nice, and he smelled like spices.

He lingered there for a second, then murmured something, and then he was gone.

Brooke's eyes were shut for a long time after that. She opened them, and he was nowhere to be seen.

She looked over at where Sky was sleeping. She took her pillow, and threw it at Sky. It hit her and she sat up quickly. She smiled when she saw Brooke. "Hey, you're awa-"

"Adrian's leaving," she interrupted. "He's going home right now."

Sky's smile dropped, and her eyes widened. "What?"

"Go say bye."

Skylar got out of bed and ran out of the infirmary.

Brooke expelled a breath, and plopped back down. Her pillow- which was absent- didn't catch her fall. "Ouch."

* * *

Skylar ran out the doors of the Institute. "Adrian!"

Adrian stopped, and looked at her. Magnus was standing there, and a portal was open. "Sky..." he looked... sad.

"Adrian, I don't want you to leave. Yesterday, when you asked if I-"

"Skylar, don't."

Skylar frowned in confusion. "I-"

"Don't," Adrian said again, shaking his head. "Sky..." he set down his bag and walked right up to her. "Skylar, I love you... But this isn't working."

Skylar's eyes widened. "What?" her voice was small.

"Skylar..." he swallowed. "Sky, I can't do this. I can't be with you knowing you'd rather be with someone else."

She felt hurt, and confused. "... What are you-"

"Sky," he put his hand on the side of her face. "Sky..." he got close to her, and stopped when his face was an inch away from hers. "I want you to be happy, and I know you won't be with me."

Skylar felt tears spill down her cheeks.

"I wish you the best, Skylar," he kissed her forehead, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Goodbye," he whispered, then turned around.

Skylar opened her eyes.

Adrian picked up his bag, and walked up to the mouth of the portal. He looked at her for a long second with a sad look on his face before disappearing into the portal. It closed behind him, and Magnus looked at her, a slightly concerned look on his face.

Sky choked out a sob, and she ran back inside.

* * *

"Jace. Jace, wake up."

Jace opened his eyes and saw Brooke standing over him.

"You're awake," he said.

She looked slightly worried. "I've been up for awhile. I was a bit out of it, though... Look, Adrian left this morning."

Jace sat up and frowned. "He left?"

"Went home," said Brooke. "I need to check on Sky, but I don't want to leave you in here alone."

"Uh, thanks," Jace stood up. "Glad you're alright."

She gave him a small smile. "Thanks for staying," she gave him a quick kiss on the lips, then left.

* * *

Brooke speed walked down the hall towards Skylar's room. She got to her door and knocked on it. "Sky? Can I come in?" there was no answer. Brooke opened the door and saw Sky lying on her side, staring at some point in the distance, makeup streaked down her face. "Sky, I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner," she walked up and sat on her bed next to her. "It's okay. You'll see him again soon enough, promise."

She rolled over to face the opposite direction.

"... Sky-"

"I don't want to talk about it," she said. "Could you go? Please."

Brooke was taken aback. Sky had never pushed her away, ever. She'd always confided in her, told her everything. "... If that's what you want," Brooke stood up and left the room, looking over her shoulder briefly at her before shutting the door.

"Is she okay?" Jace asked. He was leaning against the wall right outside Sky's room.

"She's _okay_," she said, then swallowed. "But she isn't taking it very well."

Jace's eyes widened slightly.

Brooke took his hand, and they walked to the dining room.

* * *

Skylar closed her eyes, fighting off more tears. She didn't like pushing Brooke away, but she felt guilty. Adrian broke up with her because she liked her sister's boyfriend. How awful was that? She desperately wished she could talk to someone about all this- a friend who wasn't connected to the situation. Not anyone in her family, not anyone in Adrian's family, not anyone is Jace's family. Someone else.

She sat up, suddenly having the urge to go somewhere specific. She got out of bed, and headed to the place she was so drawn to.

* * *

**So what did you think? Adrian broke up with Skylar. Where do you think she's headed?**

**The reviews are really awesome, guys! They totally make me smile :)**

**Sneak peeks at my website, and follow me on twitter :) (link to website in profile)**

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**Wisterian Princess**


	10. Chapter 10

**A lot of you guessed correctly. Congratulations!**

**So, not a lot happens in this chapter, but I hope you like it :)**

* * *

Skylar still felt the pull inside her, but she wasn't sure to where. She had gone all the way to Brooklyn, and she didn't know why. She was just wandering around now, unsure of her destination.

She bumped into someone. "Sorry," she said, not bothering to turn.

"_Clary_?"

Skylar turned to see Isabelle's boyfriend.

He smacked his forehead. "No, right, Skylar."

"Yeah," she said. "Simon, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. What brings you to Brooklyn?"

"Um," Skylar wasn't completely sure herself, but the odd pull was gone now. "Just... needed to get away, I guess."

"Does this have anything to do with the mascara on your cheeks?"

Her eyes widened slightly. "What?" she felt at her cheeks. She hadn't even thought about how her makeup would be ruined by her tears. "Oh..."

"Are you okay?" asked Simon.

"Um... I just..." she looked down and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Um... I don't have anything to do if you want to talk."

He looked kind, she thought, like someone you depend on. Something inside her made her _want_ to talk to him, too, and told her she could trust him. "That'd be great, actually. Thanks."

* * *

"Ready?" asked Jace.

Alec nodded, and swiped his sword at Jace. He deflected easily, then came at him.

Brooke ran into the room. Alec was momentarily distracted, and Jace took advantage of it. He swiped his foot under Alec's legs, and he fell to the ground. Jace put his training sword to Alec's chest, then looked at Brooke. She looked concerned.

"What's up?"

"I can't find Sky."

Jace turned away from Alec and tried to ignore the twinge he felt inside. "What do you mean?"

"I mean she's gone," Brooke looked worried, and panicked. "And she left her phone in her room."

Jace set down the training sword. "Then let's look for her."

* * *

They walked into a coffee shop called '_Java Jones_'. The place smelled like freshly ground coffee- a comforting smell to Skylar. It smelled like home, where she used to go to the coffee shop down the road with Adrian.

Her smile faded at the thought of Adrian. He'd broken up with her this morning because she liked her sister's boyfriend. So much for all the time she'd spent clearing her mind.

"You okay?" said Simon.

Skylar took a deep breath, and nodded.

"One black coffee, and a latte for me," said Simon.

Skylar glanced up at him. "How did you know my coffee order?"

"Lucky guess," said Simon, not looking at her.

Skylar frowned.

Simon walked over to a booth, and Sky sat across from him.

He looked up at her. He looked nervous.

Skylar tried to raise an eyebrow, but couldn't. She hated not being able to do that. "I thought vampires couldn't have coffee."

Simon shrugged. "They also can't go in the sun... Are you Clary?"

Skylar furrowed her brow. "Excuse me?"

"Are. You. Clary?" Simon asked slowly.

Skylar raised her eyebrows. "You're... No, I'm not. Why would you ask me that?"

"Because," he said. "You look like Clary, you sound like Clary, you have the same coffee order as Clary, you're in love with Jace... You're just like Clary."

Skylar blushed scarlet. "I'm not in love with Jace!"

Simon raised an eyebrow.

Skylar looked down at her lap. _Was_ she?

"So... Can you just answer the question please?"

Skylar sighed, then looked him straight in the eye. "No. I'm not Clary Fray."

"Clary Fairchild?"

Sky shook her head. "No."

"Clary Morgenstern?"

Skylar's eyes widened. "Clary _Morgenstern_? Clary Fray is _Clarissa Morgenstern_?!"

"I guess not," said Simon.

One of the workers came over to their table. "One black coffee, and a latte," she said as she set them down.

Simon nodded at her. "Thanks."

She walked away, and Simon took a great big gulp of his steaming coffee. He winced.

"Am I really _that_ much like Clary?" said Skylar.

Simon nodded, clearly trying to conceal the fact that he burnt his tongue.

Sky expelled a puff of air. "No wonder he..." she trailed off.

"Hm?" Simon tilted his head slightly to the side.

Skylar shook her head, and took a sip of her coffee. It was exactly how she liked it.

"I'm all ears," he said. "I can keep a secret."

Skylar gave him a small smile. "Are you sure? Mine's kind of... complicated."

"Of course," Simon took another sip of his coffee.

Skylar sighed. _What the hell_, she thought? "I kissed Jace."

Simon choked on his coffee, then coughed for several seconds. "Isn't Jace... Your sister's _boyfriend_?"

Skylar bit her bottom lip and nodded. "That's what my problem is. Brooke isn't _just_ my sister. She's also my best friend, and _parabatai_. The way I've betrayed her..."

"_Parabatai_," said Simon. "Is that what Jace and Alec are?"

Skylar nodded. "I also had a boyfriend at the time."

Simon's eyes widened.

"Not to mention we were all in the same building when I did so."

Simon's eyes widened a little more. "... And you told your boyfriend, and he broke up with you?"

"... No," she looked at her hands clasped together in her lap. "He broke up with me because he knew I wanted to be with Jace."

"Oh..."

Sky looked up at Simon. His eyebrows were furrowed. "So let me get this straight, you had a boyfriend, then cheated on him with your sister slash parabatai slash best friend's boyfriend, then he broke up with you, but he didn't know about you kissing Jace?"

Skylar blinked. It sounded strange being said out loud like that. "... Yes, and I feel really terrible, too."

Simon nodded. "... I think I know what'll make you feel better."

"... What?"

Simon stood up. "Follow me."

* * *

"She's in Brooklyn." said Magnus, looking at the map spread out on the table.

Brooke, Jace and Alec were all putting weapons into the sheaths of their Shadowhunter gear.

"_Brooklyn_?" asked Brooke. "What is she doing in _Brooklyn_?"

Magnus shrugged. "Well, we can find her. It looks like she's fine from here, though."

Brooke nodded. "Good. Let's just make sure of that."

* * *

Skylar followed Simon into his apartment.

"My roommates are at work, so... Do you want a coffee?"

"No thanks," Skylar still wasn't sure what they were doing there. "Why exactly are we-"

"Simon, is that you?" a girl called from the other room.

"Yeah," Simone called back. "I guess they're not at work."

"What _are_ we doing here?" Sky asked.

"Well... Do you like nightclubs?"

* * *

Simon's roommate, Maia, helped Clary get ready. She'd borrowed a black dress and ankle boots from her, and was now walking into Pandemonium with Simon.

"Clary used to love it here," he yelled over the music. "It's where she went to let loose. Wanna dance?"

Skylar shrugged. "Sure."

Simon wasn't the dancer Jace was. She remembered her first night there, when she danced with Jace. Simon, on the other hand, was kind of an awkward dancer. He bobbed around in place, and did the occasional swoop to the floor.

Skylar laughed. She felt surprisingly comfortable with Simon- like she could trust him with her life. She had no idea why, she'd never been able to trust anyone that quickly before.

They danced for hours. Simon had been right. She did feel better. The dancing made her feel free, and careless.

"Sky!"

Skylar turned to see Brooke, Isabelle, Alec and Jace all standing there in Shadowhunter gear. She stopped dancing.

"What the hell?!" said Brooke. "We've been looking for you! I was worried sick!" she didn't sound mad, just relived. Brooke was usually never mad.

"And why are you here with my boyfriend?" said Isabelle, who did look mad.

"It isn't what it looks like," said Simon. "We were just hanging out, honest."

"Maybe that was _your_ intention," said Isabelle. "But maybe not _hers_."

"_What_?" said Sky. "I don't-"

"Isabelle," Brooke looked at her. "Sky wouldn't do that. She has a boyfriend."

Skylar exchanged a brief look with Jace, then looked away.

Brooke turned back to Sky. "But what were you doing here without your _phone_? We were all-"

"I just needed to get away for a while, okay?! I needed some space!"

"Needed space with Simon?!" Isabelle said accusingly.

"Isabelle-" Simon began.

"No," said Brooke. "Once again, Skylar's dating Adrian, and no offence to Simon, but I don't think he's worth cheating on Adrian."

"None taken," said Simon.

"Then why were you _dancing_ with him?!" Isabelle was quite obviously mad.

Sky lost her cool. "ADRIAN _DUMPED_ ME, OKAY?!"

Brooke's eyes went wide, and she took a step back. She obviously wasn't expecting this.

"And I wasn't on some rebound, I just needed a friend!" Skylar felt tear sting the back of her eyes.

Brooke still looked shocked. "Adrian... _dumped_ you?"

Sky felt the tears spill over. She turned and ran.

"Skylar!" Brooke called from behind her. Skylar just kept running. She wanted desperately to get away- somewhere far away where none of her troubles could bother her.

She ran out the back door into the alley and froze when she saw a demon finishing off a mundane girl. He dropped her, then turned towards Sky. He had a second jaw coming out of his human one, and long claws, with blood dripping from both. Skylar gasped. She had no weapons.

The demon ran at her. She turned, and picked up a slightly bent metal broom, swung it around, and hit in in the face. It shrieked, and stumbled back, holding its face.

It looked back at her. There was a slash on its left cheek where black ichor spilled down its face. It growled, and came at her again.

She swung at it again, and it hit its second jaw. It shrieked once more, and tried to claw her. She shoved the end against its chest, and shoved it back. She stepped forward, and hit it as hard as she could against the side of its head, and it fell over.

She dropped the broom, and ran out of the alley.

* * *

Brooke burst through the back door. A demon turned away from a body on the ground. It was a girl in a black dress with long, dark blonde hair. "SKYLAR!" She screamed.

The demon came at her. She pulled out her seraph blade, and instantly sliced it in half. It fell to the ground, and coiled into itself.

Brooke ran to the body, and turned her over. It wasn't Skylar. Guilty relief flooded through her as she noticed it was a mundane.

Jace came up behind her.

"It isn't her," Brooke said, standing up. "But she's dead."

Alec came out next. "Isabelle's talking to Simon..." he trailed off when he saw the body.

"We need to find her," said Brooke.

"You two go," said Alec. "I'll... I'll take care of the body."

Brooke nodded at him, then began running down the alley.

* * *

Skylar wandered down the sidewalk. She was completely lost now, but didn't care much. All she wanted was space at this point. And to top it all off, it started to rain. Pour.

She may have been overreacting, she thought. She got dumped, big deal. She'd gotten dumped before, by her second boyfriend- she'd dumped her first and third. This was different. She _loved_ Adrian, she never loved those other boys, and what made it worse was that Adrian broke up with her because she liked Jace.

"Found you," she heard from behind her.

She gasped and turned around. Jace was standing behind her, alone.

"You're surprisingly easy to find," he said. Something in his eyes changed, but Skylar couldn't tell what.

"Where is everyone else?" she sounded emotionless.

"We split up," he said. "Thought it'd be easier to find you that way."

Skylar sighed, and shivered. "I never asked you guys to come after me, you know. I would've come home eventually."

Jace raised an eyebrow. "You just said home."

Sky looked away.

"Look," Jace took her chin, and turned her back to face him. "If you ever need someone to talk to, than I'll listen," he released her chin.

Sky felt tears at the back of her eyes. "How was I supposed to tell you about this?" he voice broke.

"That your boyfriend broke up with you?" Skylar tried not to notice how the pouring rain made him look almost angelic.

"Jace..." tears started to roll down her face. She hoped the rain was concealing them. "Adrian broke up with me because I like _you_."

Jace looked taken aback by this.

Skylar looked away again. She crossed her arms and shivered.

There were a few seconds of silence, then Jace out his leather jacket around her. She probably would've refused it if she wasn't freezing and crying, but she was, so she pulled it around herself. "Thanks."

"Come on," he put his arm around her shoulders. "Let's bring you home."

* * *

**Just a little fluff :)**

**I reach 150 reviews! I'm SO happy! Thank you all so much! So, I bring my phone around with me, and I can check the reviews on it. It makes me SUPER happy when I reload the page, and I have new reviews I can read wherever I am :)**

**OMG this music is driving me INSANE! Is it weird that I hate Christmas music? I celebrate Christmas and all, but I just hate the music :/**

**Anyway, tell me if you liked the chapter :) If you don't want to review, you can PM me :) Thanks for all the support I'm getting, it really inspires me :) I couldn't do this without you (I know that sounds sappy, but truly)!**

**I have sneak peeks on my website, and I have a twitter, too (links in my profile).**

**I'll post again tomorrow!**

**Thanks!**

**Wisterian Princess**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry I'm posting later than I should've. I was out all day :/**

**Anyway, here's chapter 11. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Two months later...**

"I hope you packed good beach clothes," said Brooke.

"I had to buy some," said Isabelle. "But yes, I did."

"Are you excited to be going back home?" Jace asked.

Brooke nodded. "I think I'm most excited that all of you are coming, too," she smiled. "What about you, Sky? Are you excited to be going back home?"

Skylar looked like she wasn't really paying much attention.

"Sky," Brooke snapped her fingers in front of Skylar's face.

She blinked. "What?"

"Are you excited to be going back home?"

"Um..." she bit her thumb nail. "Sure..."

Brooke's smile faded. She'd forgot about her and Adrian's breakup. "Oh, I'm _so_ sorry. I forgot..."

Sky dropped her hand and smiled. "Don't worry about it. It'll be fun."

* * *

Skylar closed her eyes, and stepped through the portal. For a brief second, she could feel Brooke very far away, but as soon as she came through the portal, she relaxed a little more.

Sky breathed in the scent of sand, and the ocean. It smelled like home.

Brooke sighed. "Wow. I _missed_ that," she knew Brooke agreed.

They were in front of her and Brooke's house. It was exactly how she remembered it. People were wandering around the slightly sandy streets in beach clothes, and barefeet. Some people had sunburns, or surf boards. She smiled. She kinda missed this.

"... Wow..." said Isabelle. "This is..."

"Beachy," Brooke snickered.

"Skylar! Brooke!"

Sky looked over and saw their mother on the front porch, coming to greet them.

Brooke dropped her bags and ran to her. Sky had forgotten it had been over a year since she'd last seen her.

Sky picked up Brooke's bags, and took both their things up the steps.

"Skylar," her mother wrapped her arms around her.

"Hey, Mom," she smiled.

Elena released her and looked at everyone else. "Hello," she said. "I'm Elena."

Sky walked the bags inside and looked around her house. It wasn't the biggest, but it was home to her. She'd lived there her whole life. She got to the base of the stairs, then was grabbed from behind. She made a sound of surprise, and dropped the bags.

"Skylar," she realized it was Aaron, and relaxed.

"Hey," she wheezed. "You know that I need to breath, right?"

"Sorry," he let go of her, and she turned around. He was wearing swim trunks, and a sleeveless t-shirt. "You got paler," he noticed.

"You got tanner."

"Aaron," Brooke ran over and hugged him.

"Brooke," he chuckled. "You're even paler than Sky."

She pulled away and looked him up and down. "I _missed_ you," she smiled.

"I missed you, too."

Elena walked over and picked up the bags. "I'll put these in the proper rooms," she said, walking up the stairs.

"Hey, where's Dad?" Brooke called after her.

"Idris," said Aaron. "Mom has to go, too, but she waited until you got here. She's leaving today, actually."

"Oh," Brooke looked disappointed.

Elena came back down the stairs. "Everyone give me your bags. I'll put them in the right rooms. There are only four rooms, so I moved Aaron to the couch, and Sky, you'll stay in my room with Brooke."

Brooke nodded. "Okay. Who else is sleeping where?"

"Isabelle is sleeping in your room, Alec is in Aaron's room, and Jace is in Sky's."

* * *

Skylar put on frayed shorts and an off shoulder t-shirt over her white bikini. She was looking forward to swimming again. She opened the door, and Brooke was waiting.

"Wow, you took _forever_," she teased, passing her. "I'll meet you downstairs."

Skylar nodded, and went downstairs. Aaron was standing around the kitchen island talking to Alec, Jace and... Adrian. Skylar stopped in her tracks.

Adrian looked over and saw her. "Hey," he said.

Skylar didn't say anything.

"... Can we talk, Sky?"

Skylar swallowed, and walked out the back sliding door. She took a few more steps, then turned around.

Adrian walked up to her, and put his hands in his pockets. "It's nice to see you again."

Skylar looked down at the sand. "Yeah, you too."

"... I'm sorry."

She looked up at him.

"I don't like the way that we left things. We ended on kind of a bad note."

Skylar looked back at the sand. "Kinda."

"I was thinking... Can we be friends?"

She looked back up at him, surprised.

"You're a really great person, Sky. I'd hate to lose you because we didn't work out."

Sky took a deep breath, considering. "Okay," she gave a small smile. "That sounds nice."

* * *

Jace watched Adrian follow Skylar outside. He didn't like Adrian. He'd decided that a long time ago. He was pretty sure he was going to ask Skylar to get back together. The thought made Jace grind his teeth together.

"Hey," Brooke walked up to the island in a red one piece that suited her.

"Hey," Jace smiled at her.

"What were you guys talking about?"

"Surfing," said Aaron. Whether he was telling the truth or not, Jace couldn't tell. He hadn't been paying much attention.

"Brooke! You're back!"

Brooke turned around. "Thea!"

Thea was small, Jace noticed. She was shorter than Skylar, and much skinnier, too. She had long, straight black hair that matched Adrian's, the same golden-bronze skin, and the same gray eyes.

"It's so good to see you," said Brooke, pulling away.

"Yeah, I..." Thea trailed off when she laid eyes on Jace. She looked him up and down with wide eyes, obviously finding him attractive. "Whoa," she said aloud.

Jace smirked.

"Thea, this is my boyfriend, Jace," said Brooke. "Jace, this is Thea."

Thea whispered something to Brooke, and she blushed.

"Hey," Thea said to him.

Jace nodded at her. "Hey."

The sliding glass door opened, and in came Skylar and Adrian. Skylar looked... Relieved. Jace locked his jaw.

"Hey Adrian," said Brooke.

He waved at her. "Hey."

"Well," Thea walked into the center of the room. "I'm going swimming," she stripped off her striped tank top and denim skirt, then walked out the back door, leaving it open.

"I'll join her," said Brooke. She glanced at Jace. "Do you want to come?"

"Sure. I'll meet you there."

Brooke smiled, then went out the door.

Aaron went after her, then Adrian. Skylar paused at the door, then looked back at him for a split second before leaving.

"I'm going to change," said Isabelle, going up the stairs.

"Me too," said Alec, following her.

Jace went upstairs, too. On one of the doors, there was a post-it note that said 'Jas' on it. He chuckled, took it off, and went in. The room was definitely a girl's room. It was decorated with posters, and the full sized bed was pushed up against the window, and the sheets were light green with a white comforter. The posters weren't with posters at all, he noticed, but drawings. Lots and lots of drawings.

Jace swallowed. The drawing style was like Clary's. There were drawings of a number of things; the sunset, a mug of coffee, Adrian, Brooke, Thea, Aaron, runes, a warlock, the Angel Raziel, the mortal cup...

There was also a calendar on the wall. The days were crossed off until the day Sky came to the Institute, and Jace gasped as he looked at the handwriting. A spidery, cursive scrawl, like Clary's. This must be Skylar's room.

* * *

"Did you and Adrian work things out?" Brooke asked Skylar.

"Yeah," she said, smiling slightly. "We did."

"So are you guys back together then?"

"No," Sky said quickly. "No, were just friends now."

Brooke smiled. "That's nice. I'm glad."

Sky nodded, then looked out at the beach. "I've missed this place."

"Me too," said Brooke, then took off towards the water.

Sky giggled, shading her eyes from the sun with her hand. Skylar took off her t-shirt and shorts. She was now in her white, string-sided bikini, showing off her belly button piercing.

"I may try surfing," said a voice from behind her.

Sky turned and instantly regretted it. Jace was standing there, shirtless. She tried to pry her eyes off of his exposed chest, but failed.

Jace chuckled, and she blushed. "Are you going swimming?"

She was finally able to pry her eyes off his chest and look at his face. "Yeah. Are you?"

He smiled slightly. "I'll race you."

A smile broke across Sky's face. She turned and began running, but Jace was ahead of her in a matter of seconds. They ran into the water, and Skylar fell under. She came up and laughed.

Jace was chuckling at her. She glanced at him. He was staring at her. "Never seen a girl in a bikini before, Lightwood?"

He smirked. "Who do you think you're talking to? I've seen far more than a swimsuit."

Sky bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing, and blushed.

Jace chuckled again.

"Hey Sky!" Aaron called. "Do you want to try surfing?"

"_Hell_ no!" she shouted back.

"I'll try," said Jace.

Sky raised her eyebrows at him. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"I like to live on the edge."

* * *

Skylar looked at the pink, purple, and orange lights decorate the sky and water. It was a beautiful sight that she was used to, and she often liked to draw. She walked across the beach and picked up her discarded clothes.

"Hey," said Adrian.

"Hey," she was glad she and Adrian could be friends- though it felt a little weird.

"Dinner," he held up his phone. "How does pizza sound?"

"Good," she nodded.

"And, since all of our parents aren't home..." a grin crept across his face.

"Let me guess," said Sky. "You want me to go pick up _drinks_?"

He chuckled. "You don't have to drink any if you don't want to. I know you don't typically drink."

Sky shrugged. "Okay, I'll go, but I'm not going alone."

"Do you want me to go?"

Sky shook her head. "You have to sign for the pizza."

He looked at her for a long few seconds. "Fine. I'll pay."

"_Yes_," she giggled. It almost felt like they were still together, but with no complications. It was nice. "I'll get someone to go with me, and I'll see you in half an hour."

Adrian nodded. "Deal."

* * *

"Hey, wait up!" Brooke called, trotting down the front porch steps and catching up with her sister.

Sky looked over her shoulder. "Hey," she smiled.

Brooke caught up to her, and they started walking. "Adrian said you wanted company. I thought maybe we could talk."

Sky shrugged. "Sure."

Sky took a deep breath before the words came out. "I told Jace that I loved him."

Sky looked at her with wide eyes. "... What did he say?"

"Well... Nothing. I told him by accident the night I was poisoned a couple months ago."

"... Oh," she squeaked.

Brooke frowned. "Are you okay?"

Sky looked at the sidewalk. "I'm fine. Continue."

"So... I don't think he loves me back, because... He hasn't said anything about it since- and I dont want to push him," she added quickly.

"Uh..." Skylar looked ahead. "I think you should-"

"Hey, Sky!" Brooke looked over. Sky's ex-boyfriend, Tyler, was walking on the sidewalk across the street in the opposite direction with some of his friends.

"Hey," Sky called.

"You still going out with Foxwright?"

"Yeah! Sorry to disappoint. See you around, Tyler," Skylar looked back ahead and rolled her eyes. "Douche."

Brooke laughed.

"That guy only leaves me alone if I have a different boyfriend. That's why I lied. Anyway, you were saying?"

"Um... I think I'm gonna give him more space. I know Clary meant a lot to him..." she looked down.

Sky put her hand on Brooke's shoulder. "Don't worry," she said. "The time will come."

* * *

William Thyme walked up the beach toward the Ravenwalkers.

"Edwin!" Thea called. "Come meet the Lightwoods!"

William walked up to them. He recognized all of them from Clary's memories. Isabelle was in a red bikini, Alec was dry, and in a t-shirt, and Jace was carrying a surfboard. "Pleased to meet you."

Aaron introduced each of them, and William greeted them each individually.

"Where are Skylar and Brooke?" he asked.

"Uh..." Aaron looked around nervously.

"The convenience store," said Adrian. "Getting _chips_."

William smirked. "Don't worry, I won't tell your parents," he chuckled. "Just be careful, got it?"

"Can do," said Thea, grinning.

"Not you," said Adrian. "You're going to stay home."

Thea turned to face him. "Come on, that's _so_ not fair!"

"Tell you what," said Aaron. "You can have _one_ drink with us, then you go home, okay?"

Thea grinned. "Yes! Thank you."

Adrian raised his eyebrow. "You don't even _like_ alcohol."

Thea stuck her tongue out at him.

William chuckled.

The sliding glass door opened, and out stepped... William's eyes went wide.

"Alec!" said Magnus. "I came to surprise..." he trailed off when he saw William. He swallowed. "_Thyme_," he snarled.

"Bye," he turned around, and started to run.

* * *

Alec blinked once they had gone out of sight. "What was that about?"

Aaron shrugged. "Edwin's got some skeletons in the closet. They tend to stay there."

Jace looked at Aaron with his brow furrowed. "... Did he just say '_Thyme_'?"

Adrian frowned. "I guess he did."

Thea looked around between them. "What are you guys talking about?"

Jace's jaw locked. "I'll be right back," he went into the house and up to Skylar's room. He looked at the drawing of the warlock on the wall. It was the same warlock they'd just seen. Who _was_ he?

* * *

**What did you think?**

**Any requests while they're in Redondo beach, California? The help would be ****_excellent_****!**

**Quick note, I've never been to Redondo. I made up a place in my head, and I assigned it to a place which looked like it could fit best.**

**Post again tomorrow :)**

**Wisterian Princess**


	12. Chapter 12

**-Character Clarification:**

_**Elena Ravenwalker = Skylar's mother**_

_**Stan Ravenwalker = Skylar's father**_

_**Aaron Ravenwalker = Skylar's oldest sibling (age 21)**_

_**Brooke Ravenwalker = Skylar's older sister (middle child), (age 20)**_

_**Skylar Ravenwalker = secretly Clary Fray, but doesn't know (age 19)**_

_**Thea Foxwright = Adrian's little sister (age 15).**_

_**Adrian Foxwright = Skylar's ex-boyfriend (age 19)**_

_**Edwin Tron = secretly William Thyme, an evil warlock who has earased the memories of the Foxwrights and Ravenwalkers, and implanted fake memories. He is connected to Jonathan Morgenstern**_

_***The Foxwrights are next door neighbors to both the Ravenwalkers, and Edwin Tron**_

_***Real identity for all Ravenwalkers and Foxwrights: UNKNOWN (except for Clary/Sky)**_

_***A few mundanes have implants, too, so they will remember things like seeing them over the years, dating Sky, ect.**_

* * *

_The man lying on the ground before her looked up at her and began to chuckle. "Are you going to kill me, Clary?" he smiled slightly, and blood came out of his mouth._

_She took a deep breath. "Yes," then, she plunged the sword into his chest._

Skylar sat up and gasped. She couldn't remember her dream now, but she knew it was freaky.

Brooke stirred beside her in the darkness. Skylar got out of bed and left the room. She went into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Her honey colored hair was messy, and her cropped tank top slightly crooked.

She turned on the sink, and splashed warm water on her face. She'd seen that face again, she knew, but she couldn't remember what had happened.

She sat down on the fuzzy rug on the bathroom floor and sighed. Lately, she'd been having these... flashes. They would be of faces, places, words... It had been happening more and more as time went on. _Thyme_...

She shook her head to push it away. Whatever weird things had been happening, she wanted them to stop.

She left the bathroom feeling exhausted, and went back to her room. She walked blindly through the darkness, and crawled into her bed. She could feel Brooke a foot away from her- the warmth radiating off her body, her slow, steady breaths. Skylar let herself drift off.

* * *

Isabelle came down the stairs into the main room of the Ravenwalker's house. Thea, Adrian, Aaron, Brooke and Alec were all sitting around the table, eating toast, cereal and fruit.

"Morning," said Brooke.

Isabelle immediately noticed everyone was in their pajamas except Alec. "Hi," she sat down at the table and took a piece of toast from the tall stack.

"How'd you sleep?" Brooke asked.

Isabelle shrugged. "The time difference is kinda weird."

Adrian smirked. "I know right? It's something to get used to."

Brooke took a large bite of toast, then frowned, and started chewing more slowly.

"Bad toast?" said Thea.

"Sorry," said Aaron.

Brooke shook her head and swallowed. "I just realized I haven't seen Sky today."

"Is she still sleeping?" asked Alec.

"No," said Brooke. "She would've been in the room I was in."

Adrian glanced up at her.

"Maybe she went swimming?" Aaron offered.

"... I'll go look," Brooke stood up and walked out the sliding glass door. As she walked out, the warlock from yesterday walked in.

"Hey, Edwin," said Aaron, eating a bit of cereal.

Edwin looked exhausted.

"What _was_ that yesterday?" asked Adrian.

"Yeah," said Thea. "Do you have some sort of beef with Magnus Bane?"

"Um," Edwin scratched the back of his head. "I stole his girl a couple hundred years ago. No big deal, we worked it out- sort of..."

"Is he okay?" Alec asked.

"Yeah," said Edwin. "He went back to Brooklyn, though. He told me to tell you sorry, Alec. And... I kinda torched his cell in the fight, so..."

"Fight?!" said Thea, intrigued.

Edwin chuckled nervously. "No one got hurt, no worries."

Brooke walked back inside the house. "No sign of her."

"Huh," said Aaron. "Where could she be?"

* * *

Skylar's eyes fluttered open. She was in her room in Redondo. She'd nearly forgotten about that. The sunlight came through the window, lighting the room. She knew it was morning now, but she didn't want to get up. She was comfortable, and warm. At some point during the night, Brooke had put her arm around her. _Probably cold_, she thought.

She looked at her drawing-covered wall. Her sky-blue walls were covered with taped up drawing, and paintings. She looked over the ones on her wall. There was one of Adrian, then one of Brooke next to it. Below Brooke was one of Edwin Tron, their family's warlock, and next to him was a drawing of the storefront for Thymeless.

_Thyme_... She remembered waking up in the middle of the night from a nightmare- well, a supposed nightmare. She couldn't remember it. She was pretty surprised Brooke hadn't woken up from her jumping out of bed. She'd probably had a little too much to drink. She was out like a light. That explained why she was still asleep. She thought about waking her, but decided against it. She'd let Brooke sleep.

That's when it hit her. She stopped breathing and he eyes went wide as she realized something crucial, something she couldn't believe she'd missed. Brooke and Sky were meant to be sleeping in their parent's room because her room was being rented out to...

Sky slowly turned her head to confirm her suspicions. She let out a small squeak when she saw his face. She sat up faster than she thought was possible, but instantly regretted it.

Jace stirred and his eyes opened. He glanced up at her, and looked momentarily surprised. "Funny... I don't remember having anything to drink. Neither did you, and yet here you are."

Sky let out the breath she'd been holding all this time. "I..."

Jace sat up and raised an eyebrow. _Damn_, how she wished she could do that.

"... Well, it was late, and I forgot..."

The corner of his mouth twitched. "... Forgot what?"

Sky was panicking inside. "This is my room," she whispered. "I forgot _I_ wasn't supposed to sleep in here!" She was definitely panicking now.

"Calm down," said Jace. "You didn't do anything wrong," he was frowning now.

"But how does this _look_?" she said in a small voice.

Jace pursed his lips for a moment. "Good point."

Skylar looked around the room, then remembered where she used to go to escape. She crawled across the bed to the window, and opened it.

"Sky, what are you _doing_?" Jace demanded.

"What does it look like? I'm going to the roof. I can handle things from here. Pretend you haven't seen me, okay?"

Jace looked at her like she was crazy, but nodded. "Alright."

Sky nodded at him, then went into the windowsill, reached for the edge of the roof, and climbed up.

* * *

Jace got dressed, and went downstairs. Almost everyone was in their pajamas. "Oh, hello."

Brooke looked worried. "Have you seen Sky?"

"Um," Sky had told him to say nothing. "No. Why?"

"I can't find Sky," Brooke panicked.

Just then, Skylar came down the stairs. "Morning."

Brooke looked at her with wide eyes. "Where have you _been_? I've been worried sick!"

Skylar blinked. "Roof. Why?"

Brooke let out a breath. "I forgot to look there. Sorry."

Sky shrugged, then sat down at the table. Jace sat down, too. Sky grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl, and took a bite. Jace stared at her. She was so much like Clary. It was hard to believe she wasn't her. He'd considered the possibility a couple of times, but he was sure he was imagining half the signs.

"So," said Brooke, looking her normal happy again. "I was thinking Isabelle and I could go shopping today. What do you think, Izzy?" she looked at Isabelle.

"Yes!" Isabelle grinned. "I'm ready when you are."

Brooke smiled. "Good. I'm definitely taking you to Thymeless. They have the cutest boots _ever_."

Sky dropped her apple on the table, causing everyone to look at her. She was staring at one spot at the table, looking very spaced out.

"Sky," said Brooke. "You okay?"

Skylar didn't even react to Brooke talking to her, she just continued to stare at the table.

"Sky?" said Adrian.

Skylar stood up from the table, and ran upstairs.

Jace furrowed his brow.

"What was that about?" said Isabelle.

Brooke stood up. "I'm gonna go check on her," she went up the stairs.

"Anyway," said Aaron. "Jace, do you want to try surfing again while the girls are shopping?"

Jace shrugged. "Sure."

Aaron looked at Adrian. "Jace is a natural at surfing. You should've seen him yesterday."

"Yeah," said Adrian, looking bored.

"Aaron!" Brooke's voice yelled from upstairs. "Aaron, get Edwin!" Brooke sounded frantic.

Aaron stood up and went out the sliding glass door. Jace, Isabelle and Adrian stood up, and went upstairs. Skylar's bedroom door was wide open.

They all walked in and saw Skylar on the ground, unconscious. Brooke was sitting on the ground by her side, and Sky's head was on her lap.

Brooke looked up at them, looking scared. "Go get Edwin!" she demanded.

"Aaron's doing that," said Adrian, kneeling next to them. "What happened?

"I don't know," said Brooke. "She was just babbling, and then..." she looked down at her sister.

Skylar started breathing raggedly, and a thin layer of sweat covered her skin.

"What's happening?" asked Isabelle, walking around to her other side, and kneeling down.

"I don't know," said Brooke.

Skylar's eyes opened about halfway, and she looked around.

"Sky?" said Brooke. "Sky, what's going on?"

Skylar mumbled something Jace couldn't hear. He was the only one still standing.

"I don't know who you're talking about," said Brooke.

Edwin came into the room then. "I came as fast as I could," he said.

Skylar's eyes suddenly shot all the way open, and she jolted. "No!" she screamed, shooting back and hitting her back on the nightstand.

Everyone jumped.

"Hold her," said Edwin, walking closer.

Brooke and Isabelle grabbed Skylar's arms, and Sky started kicking and screaming.

"No! Stop! Get him away from me!"

Jace watched the scene with wide eyes.

"Sky!" said Brooke. "It's okay, sweetie, we're going to help you."

Edwin knelt in front of her, and Sky kicked at him again.

"No!" she screamed, and tried to get out of Brooke and Isabelle's grips. "He's gonna put me back!" she yelled. She looked over at Jace then. "Jace, stop him!"

Jace felt a pang inside him as he saw Skylar fight them, and ask him to help her. He swallowed.

"Jace!"

Edwin put his hands on either side of her face.

"No!" she screamed, then was unconscious again.

Brooke was shaking, and there were tears in her eyes. "What the hell was that?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"A dormant demon poison," said Edwin. "I'll take her to my house and fix her up," he picked her up, and stood. "She'll be fine, Brooke, don't worry."

Brooke nodded, and Adrian put his hand on her shoulder. Brooke fell into his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay," he said soothingly. "She's gonna be fine."

Aaron, Thea and Alec were all standing by the door, watching with wide eyes.

Edwin left the room with Sky, and glanced at Jace as he did.

* * *

William set Clary down on his work table. It had been a dormant demon poison, yes, but what the poison did was different. It opened one of the barriers he'd set in her mind. She'd been half Clary, half Skylar when she'd started freaking out. He knew it was because she remembered what he'd done.

He put his hands on either side of her head, and went in, assessing what damage the poison had done to his spell. It wasn't good. One of his barriers was severely damaged, and her two selves were overlapping. It was also making her sick.

William went, and started on the potion.

* * *

"That was _horrible_," said Brooke. "Through the connection, I could feel Sky's fear... It was like... like she was mentally ill or something."

Everyone was sitting around the dining room table again. It looked like what had happened had affected Brooke most of all.

"Are you okay?" Adrian asked.

Brooke nodded.

"I can't believe we missed something like that," said Alec. "The demon poison, I mean. When was she poisoned?"

"Last week that demon in the alley licked her," said Isabelle. "Do you think that was it?"

Adrian looked up. "A demon _licked_ her?"

"Yeah. She kept saying how gross it felt."

"Right," said Jace. "That was probably it."

Brooke looked almost traumatized.

Adrian put his hand on her knee under the table to comfort her. She shot him a grateful look.

"... That was scary," said Thea. "I've never seen Sky like that- ever. It was like she wasn't Sky anymore."

"I know," said Brooke, touching her _parabatai_ rune.

The sliding glass door opened, and in walked Skylar. "Hey," she said, smiling. "What'd I miss?"

* * *

**Does anyone know of any good Infernal Devices and Mortal Instruments crossover school fics? I know that's kinda specific, but I ready a couple different ones, and I REALLY like them. Raziel knows why :P**

**So, apparently, there's code words on fan fic, and I don't know what most of them mean. I know AN, AU, OC, fluff and lemons/smut, but I don't know any others. Any I should know?**

**BTW, I also thought It'd be worth mentioning that I'm on Pacific time, so yeah...**


	13. Chapter 13

**Quick clarification: the blocks in their minds aren't mind control. They're technically the same people, just remember a different life. When Clary made an appearance last chapter, she remembered Clary's memories, ****_and_**** Skylar's- which was very confusing for her. On top of that, the demon poison was making her sick. But she's not sick anymore, BTW. Just clarifying.**

* * *

A few days later, Skylar was sitting on the roof, looking out at the sunset. It was relaxing to her, though she hadn't been so relaxed in a long time. Coming home meant no demons, no life threatening situations, only her, her family, and her friends in the place where she'd grown up. The only thing bothering her was Jace.

Skylar tried not to think of Jace in the way she did, she even told herself she didn't like him over, and over, but it was hopeless. Skylar had fallen in love with her sister's boyfriend.

Sky tried to concentrate on the way the different colors of the sunset reflected off the water. She imagined drawing it, as she had dozens of times before. It calmed her more, and momentarily distracted her from the problem at hand.

Hand. There was a hand curled around the edge of the roof. Sky jumped, and shrieked. She heard laughing as someone hauled himself up. Jace.

"You _scared_ me," she said angrily.

"Sorry," Jace smirked. "Care for some company?"

Sky shrugged, and gestured beside her. Jace sat next to her. He was only a few inches away. She swallowed as she felt her heart speed up. "What are you doing here?" she asked quietly, looking at the sunset, and avoiding looking at him.

"It's nice up here," he said. "You were right, it is a good place to think. It's like the greenhouse."

"Greenhouse?" Sky looked at him, then wished she hadn't. He looked _gorgeous_ in this lighting. His gold hair moved ever so slightly in the gentle warm breeze, and the sunset's colors reflected perfectly off his golden eyes, and skin. She wasn't breathing.

He looked at her and smiled gently. "At the Institute. I'm surprised you didn't know it was there."

Skylar couldn't find words. It was like she'd forgotten how to speak.

He looked back at the sunset, and she could breath again. She couldn't, however, look away from him.

"I go there when I need to think," he looked lost in thought. "Clary and I..." he trailed off, and swallowed.

Sky put her hand over his, a comforting gesture. She felt a spark.

He looked at her, and she couldn't breath again. It took her a few seconds to remember how to speak. "I'm sorry... For... Clary."

The corner of Jace's lips twitched, and he looked back ahead. "I don't understand why people find it necessary to apologize for something that isn't their fault."

"I'm not apologizing," she said. "It's a way of empathizing... I'm saying that I'm sorry you're unhappy."

He turned back to her and stared. Something in his eyes was very alive.

Skylar couldn't tell what he was thinking. She looked back towards the sunset, and took her hand off his. After several seconds, she could still feel his eyes on her. She glanced over, and her suspicions were confirmed. She blushed, and looked away again. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Jace turned slowly away from her and looked back at the sunset. "... Sorry..."

She glanced at him. She felt like she wanted to kiss him. She blushed at her thoughts, and looked ahead again.

"You're blushing," the fact that he noticed made Sky blush more.

"... I'm not," she said weakly. She looked back at him. He was looking at her meaningfully.

She swallowed.

Jace leaned closer, slowly. Her heart began to pound furiously against her ribcage. She leaned towards him, too. When their lips were an inch apart, they both paused. Skylar could taste his scent. She wanted this so badly, but she couldn't. _Brooke_, she reminded herself.

She backed away from him, pressed her lips together, and looked down.

"... I'm sorry," said Jace.

Sky bit down on her tongue. "I have to go," she slowly climbed to the edge of the roof, and hung down till her foot found the windowstill, and she went back inside.

* * *

Isabelle looked down at the new boots she'd gotten at Thymeless with Brooke, admiring them. She went down the stairs, and saw Alec, sitting alone at the dining room table, looking troubled. "Hey, Alec," she said.

He glanced up at her. "Hi."

Isabelle pulled out the chair across from him, and sat down, putting her boots on the table. "What's up?"

Alec shrugged.

"Alec," she said firmly. "What's bothering you?"

Alec sighed. "Magnus hasn't been writing me back. Edward said his phone got ruined, so I've been writing letters to him. He hasn't answered any of the letters, not one. I'm starting to get worried."

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "First of all, it isn't _Edward_, it's _Edwin_-"

Alec gave her a look.

"And second, I'm sure it's nothing. He's probably just busy."

Alec expelled a breath. "Maybe you're right," he gave a small smile.

"Right about what?" said Sky, walking in.

"Nothing," said Isabelle.

"So," said Aaron, walking in. "I was thinking we could do a bonfire tonight."

Isabelle moved her boots on the floor, and raised an eyebrow.

Skylar frowned. "A bonfire?"

Aaron nodded, and sat down at the table near Alec. "We also have hard lemonade, which is very good," he smiled and chuckled.

Alec looked like he was considering.

Isabelle smiled. "We're in."

Sky glanced at her.

"Great," said Aaron, standing up. "I'll spread the word," he walked outside, and shut the sliding glass door behind him.

"This is gonna be fun."

* * *

"You aren't doing it right," said Thea to Aaron.

Aaron held the match by the bark of the log. "What would you know about starting fires, Thea?" Aaron didn't look at her, only concentrated on the fire. The match went out, and he cussed.

"Here," said Thea, moving in, and pushing Aaron back. The rearranged the logs and kindling. "Match," she held out her hand.

Aaron rolled his eyes, and handed her the match.

She struck it, and lit the paper. They started to burn, and Thea smiled. "Girl Scouts."

The fire got slightly bigger, and the kindling caught.

"Ha!" said Thea, grinning. She stuck her tongue out at Aaron, who rolled his eyes. "We should play truth of dare tonight," there was mischief in Thea's eyes that made Aaron curious.

"You aren't gonna be there."

Her mouth dropped open. "_What_? That's _so_ unfair!"

"Come on," said Aaron. "I'll make it up to you."

Thea raised an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"

Aaron grinned, winning. "Anything you want."

Thea pursed her lips. "... Go on a date with me."

Aaron raised his eyebrows. "Thea... You're _six years_ younger than I am."

"A proper one," said Thea. "And then I'll let you guys have your night, and I won't tell Elena, Mom or Stan. Deal?"

Aaron let out a puff of air. "Fine. You got it."

Thea grinned. "Yes. See you later," she winked, then got up, and left.

* * *

Skylar was making the rare exception of having a few drinks. She usually didn't, but this time she thought _what the hell?_

It was pitch black outside, and they were all sitting around the bonfire Aaron said he'd made, but somehow, Sky didn't believe him.

"Sky," said Brooke, who had just finished laughing at Jace's tale of his first time trying a faerie plum. "What about you? Have you ever tried Faerie things?"

An image came to Sky's mind. Is was her, in a nightclub where silver was raining down from the ceiling. Skylar frowned. That _had_ to have been a dream. The only nightclub she'd ever been to was Pandemonium.

Skylar shook her head.

"Anyone else have a story about their first time trying faerie stuff?" asked Brooke.

Isabelle snickered. "Well, my boyfriend tried a cocktail once."

Sky started laughing, thought she didn't know why.

"Boyfriend?" said Aaron. "You've gotta be _kidding_ me! You had a boyfriend this whole time?!"

The corner of Isabelle's lips curved up. "He's a vampire, too."

Aaron groaned, and fell back against the sand.

Brooke looked at him and snickered.

"Anyway," Isabelle tossed her hair out of her face. "Simon turned into a rat."

Everyone burst out laughing.

"Okay," said Adrian. "We should go in. It's almost two in the morning."

"Wow," said Brooke, giggling. "Okay, I'm going to bed," she stood up, and walked inside without another word.

"I'll douse the fire," said Aaron, walking inside.

Everyone disbursed.

"G'night Jace!" Brooke called as she stumbled up the stairs.

Jace waved at her, and she giggled.

Skylar collapsed on the couch, and lie across it.

"Hey," said Aaron, who was about to walk out the door with a bucket. "I'm sleeping there."

"Not anymore," Sky giggled.

Aaron rolled his eyes. "Jace, could you get her upstairs please?"

Sky closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep before she was moved. She felt a pair of muscular arms lift her off the couch, and her eyes flew open in surprise. She looked up at Jace and blinked. "Are you carrying me?" she snickered.

"Yes," said Jace, walking her up the stairs.

"Oh my," Sky wrapped her arms around his neck, and smiled up at him.

He seemed very concentrated on getting her to her room. He walked her into the dark room.

"Hold on," said Sky, looking around the incredibly dim room- only lit by moonlight. "This is _my_ room."

"That's right," said Jace. "I'll sleep somewhere else," he set her down on the bed, and her grip around his neck tightened.

"You don't have to sleep somewhere else if you don't want to," Sky whispered.

She heard Jace swallow.

"Stay?"

Jace was quiet for several seconds.

"Please?"

Finally, Jace nodded. "Alright. I'll stay."

Sky released him, and he walked over and closed the door. He lie down on his back on the other side of the bed.

Skylar moved in close to him, and draped her arm over him.

"What are you doing?" he said quietly.

"You're warm," she murmured into his shoulder. "And you smell nice."

Jace chuckled.

"... Can you tell me that story again?"

Jace looked at her and furrowed his brow. "Which story?"

"The one about you running down the street naked with antlers on your head," she started laughing again just thinking about it.

Jace frowned.

"What?" she said playfully.

"... I didn't say anything about the antlers. How did you know that?"

Sky frowned. "Well, you _must_ have. Otherwise, how would I have known?"

Jace stared at her for a long time. Skylar rolled her eyes, then rolled over so she was hovering over him. He looked surprised. "What are you-"

"Shh," she whispered, then came down slowly, and kissed him. He didn't hesitate, he kissed her back instantly. It was a slow, gentle kiss that shot electricity though Skylar's veins.

Jace's hands went to her waist, and they kissed again. It was slow, but deeper. Sky tucked her hair behind her ear, then took the side of his face, and their kiss deepened.

Sky could feel his blood pulsing underneath her pinky finger, which touched his neck. She had the same affect on him that he did on her. She wondered if he had electricity pulsing through his veins, too.

Skylar lowered herself until their chests were touching, and she could feel his heart beating through the fabric of his shirt. Jace rolled them over so he was on top, and their kiss deepened further. Sky wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting no distance between them. She could taste the hard lemonade on his breath, and something else she couldn't identify, but it was familiar...

She saw a flash in her mind; her, plunging a sword into Jace's chest. She gasped, and jumped.

Jace moved a few inches away, looking at her with concern. "Are you alright?"

Skylar searched his face. He wasn't looking at her the way she wanted him to. For some reason, she remembered a different look on his face that she wanted to see. It was like... like this had happened before.

"Skylar, what's wrong?"

"... I'm... sorry. I didn't mean..." her arms slowly slid away from his neck, and she was left just staring at him.

Jace swallowed. "Do you want me to leave?"

Sky thought for a second, then shook her head.

"Okay," Jace was about to move, but Sky caught him.

"Don't go anywhere."

"I wasn't going to," he said gently.

Sky slowly released him, and he moved to beside her, then pulled the covers over them.

Sky moved into his side, and his arms went around her. She buried her face in his neck and inhaled his scent. It was so familiar... Almost like they'd met before...

That wasn't possible, she decided. If she'd ever met Jace, she'd remember him. But what if she didn't...? When she'd first met Jace, she was instantly drawn to him, and he looked familiar... and the way he looked at her, too, it was like he knew her as well. How was this possible?

She concentrated hard in her head, trying to remember him. She was so sure she'd met him before- it was on the tip of her tongue.

_Brooke has a block in her mind_, Sky thought, _maybe I do, too_. But why? It made no sense. Why would someone want her to forget Jace?

* * *

**Tell me what you thought of this chapter, please :)**

**Okay, so I have not written chapter 14 yet. This is new to me, not having written chapters ready to go. It does, however, mean that I can take suggestions more easily. I'll take advantage of this situation. Does anyone have any requests?**

**No sneak peeks this time, I'm afraid- since I have not written the next chapter yet. Sorry.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Man, this chapter took too long to write. I lost my inspiration for a while there, but stayed up late and got hit with a stroke of genius. I hope you guys like it!**

* * *

Jace squinted at the sunlight that poured into his bedroom. No, not his, Skylar's. He opened his eyes the rest of the way, and saw that he had his arm around her. Memories from the previous night floated through his mind. He swallowed.

He jumped when someone knocked on his door. "Jace?" it was Brooke.

Skylar was suddenly awake by his side, and looked at him with a panicked expression.

"Jace, I'm coming in," said Brooke.

Skylar and Jace seemed to think of the same thing. Sky ducked under the covers, and Jace pulled her on top of him.

The door opened, and Brooke smiled. "Hey."

Jace felt at his head. "Hey."

Brooke was holding a tall glass of green liquid in her hand.

"Is that the potion people keep giving me for hangovers?"

Brooke chuckled, and set it down on his nightstand. "So you're familiar."

"_Extremely_."

Brooke pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. "I'll see you at breakfast," then she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Jace lifted up the covers, and looked at Skylar. She squinted at the light, but crawled out of under the covers.

"Morning," she corner of Jace's mouth pulled up. She was still in her jeans, and her hair was messy.

She yawned, and yanked the curtains on the window shut. Jace chuckled. She took the glass off the nightstand, and handed it to Jace. He downed the whole thing, then set it down on the dresser.

"... Are we going to talk about last night?" asked Jace, breaking the silence.

Skylar cleared her throat, and looked away. "No. I wouldn't have done that sober. Sorry."

"_I_ may have," Jace surprised both himself, and her by saying that. He thought about it for a second, and decided he would've.

"Jace..." she looked down. "This _can't_ happen. You're with Brooke, and I can't hurt her."

Jace swallowed. "I understand."

She looked up at him slowly. He felt completely sober now, and he wanted to kiss her again, but knew that was out of the question.

Sky swallowed. "I have to go," she stood up and walked over to the door.

"Wait," Jace stood up, opened the door, and poked his head out. "You can go now," he whispered.

She silently thanked him, and slipped into one of the other rooms.

Jace went back into Skylar's room, and sighed. He wasn't sure what to do about this. He didn't want to hurt Brooke- and Skylar probably wouldn't date him if he did- but he wanted to be with Skylar.

He thought of Clary then. When they thought they were siblings, it was like this. He wanted so badly to be with her, but couldn't be. Somehow, this situation felt similar. He wanted to be with Skylar, but he couldn't be, but the thing about this situation was that is he took away what was keeping them apart, she'd hate him for it.

He felt like he needed someone to talk to about this, but pushed the thought away. Anyone connected to the situation would hate him, too, including Alec.

Jace let out an exasperated sigh, then left the room, and headed downstairs.

* * *

Skylar had climbed out the window, and was now on the roof. She lie towards the top with her arm draped over her eyes. She now remembered why she usually didn't drink: she hated hangovers, not to mention the bad decisions. What was she _thinking_, kissing Jace? She'd done it again. The worst part was that Brooke didn't know. Skylar deserved to be hated, but she couldn't bring herself to hurt her sister like that.

"Sky?" she heard Brooke call. "Sky, are you on the roof?"

"Yeah," she called back.

"Well, come down! I've got a potion made for you. It also is a terrible idea to be on the roof while you have a hangover."

"Coming," Sky sat up and squinted. The sun was killing her. She slowly started to make her way down the roof, but slipped, and started rolling down. She heard Brooke call her name, and caught herself at the last second. She was now hanging from the roof by one hand.

"Oh Raziel!" Brooke exclaimed. "Sky, are you okay?!"

"Yeah," Sky managed. She could feel her fingers slipping, and grabbed the roof with her other hand.

"Hang on," said Brooke. "I'll help you," she heard Brooke run inside.

Sky looked for the closest window. It was slightly too far from her current location to be able to get to it. She cussed under her breath.

She heard someone come out of the house. "Sky?" it was Brooke again.

"Still here," she said. "See this is _exactly_ why I don't drink!"

"Skylar," said Jace's voice. She closed her eyes and cursed under her breath again. Why did it have to be _Jace_? "You have to let go."

Skylar scoffed. "Are you _kidding_ me?! _No_!"

"Fine then, but you've asked for it."

"Asked for what?" Sky felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. She made a sound of surprise, and let go of the roof by mistake. Before she knew it, she was in Jace's arms, and he was standing on the ground. She looked up at him with a shocked expression.

"How did you _do_ that?"

Jace smirked. "The one good thing that came with Valentine's experiments."

Skylar blinked, suddenly bothered by the sun again.

"Thanks," said Brooke. "Can you bring her inside?"

"No," said Sky. "I can walk," she kicked her legs a little.

Jace laughed, and she felt that they were moving. When they were somewhere darker, she opened her eyes. They were in the main room of their house, where everyone was looking at her.

"Put me down," she hissed.

Jace chuckled, and set her down in a chair at the table. Brooke handed her a glass, and she quickly started drinking it.

"What were you doing on the roof?" said Brooke.

Sky stopped drinking for a second. "Dunno. Woke up there," she lied. She finished off the glass, then glanced at Jace.

Brooke laughed. "Well, I think you shouldn't drink again," she said jokingly.

"You think?" Skylar said whispered darkly under her breath. "I'm going to change," she stood up and left, wanting to get away as quickly as she could.

* * *

Skylar walked into Thymeless. It had been a while since she'd been here, but today, she felt like she needed to be somewhere familiar that wasn't near her own house, or near anyone in it.

"Skylar," said the store's manager from behind the counter. "It's been a while since I've seen you around here. How can I help you?" he smiled.

"Hey, Jeff," said Skylar. "I'm just browsing for now."

He nodded. "Cool, cool."

Skylar wandered around the store aimlessly. She didn't really need a new pair of boots, she just wanted to get away from the house, and Thymeless seemed like a place. No one would look for her there, but it wasn't too far away from home.

The place was generally pretty small, with brick walls, and shelves lined with boots, and there was an out of place fireplace in the back- which was never lit.

Sky sat down in front of it. Her mind wandered back to Brooke. She felt like she couldn't be around her right now because she'd betrayed her. Brooke had always been the most kind, caring, wonderful person to Sky, and if she knew the truth, she'd hate her. She'd lose her best friend.

Something caught Skylar's eye, and she looked at it. There was a small gap in the back of the fireplace in the corner. Skylar frowned, and looked closer. There was something that caught the light slightly from a certain angle in the tiny gap. Skylar crawled up to it, and tried to get whatever it was out with one finger. She heard a click, and the entire fireplace shifted. She gasped, and froze as the fireplace began to transform into a stone staircase, and she nearly fell, but caught herself.

She gaped down the black staircase. She considered going back, but curiosity poked at the back of her mind. She pulled out her stele, and drew a night vision rune on her arm, the stood up, and started down the stairs.

She walked down for a little while. _It must lead really far down_, she thought. Se considered turning back, but saw a tiny gap of light in the distance, and trotted down the remaining stone steps till she was in front of a door. She pulled out her stele, and drew the unlocking rune. Smoke came up from the lock, and she walked in.

The room she walked into looked like a dungeon. The ceiling was poorly cut out of stone, and the floor was flat, but also stone. There were flaming torches lining the walls, tables with tools on it, along with herbs, and viles. _A potions lab_, she thought.

There were tables lined up down the room, too, one of them had someone laying on it. Skylar made her way over to them slowly.

When she reached them, she studied them. Their clothes were torn, and filthy, and there were minor scorch marks on the person's skin, and cuts with dried blood on them. The person was strapped down, too.

Skylar gasped, wondering what she'd walked into. The person turned their head so they were looking at her, and she gasped again. "_Magnus_?!"

"_Quiet_," he hissed, his voice strained. "He might hear you."

She went up to him. "Oh my god, what _happened_?" she whispered.

"Thyme," he growled. "There's something going on here. I think he's blocked your sister's mind, but I don't know why."

Sky fumbled at the restraints, but didn't have luck. "A block?"

"I sensed it a while ago. I think he's blocked your mind, too."

Sky stopped what she was doing, and looked up at him. "Me? Why?"

He gave her a look.

She yanked at the restraints again, but it did nothing. "Can't you use your magic to get out?" she asked.

"I can't use my powers for some reason. If I could, I'd have gotten out days ago."

"Days," Skylar repeated quietly.

Magnus frowned. "Weren't you guys worried that I was missing?"

"Well..." Skylar scratched the back of her head. "We didn't exactly... know."

Magnus' brows furrowed.

"Edwin said you needed space, and that he torched your phone. Something about him stealing your girl..."

Magnus locked his jaw. "He lied. Edwin Tron isn't even his real name."

Skylar frowned.

"His name is William Thyme. He's one of the most dangerous warlocks in the downworld."

"But... That isn't possible," she insisted. "Edwin has been our family's most trusted warlock since before I was born!"

"Shh!" Magnus hissed again.

Sky swallowed.

"Listen," said Magnus. "You'll have to get out of here. He could come back any minute, and if he find you-"

"I can't leave you down here!" she whisper-yelled. "I'll get help."

She pulled out her cellphone. She had one bar, but scrolled through her contacts.

"Don't call anyone from your family," Magnus said. "Or your boyfriend's."

Sky frowned. "Why?"

"He could have touched them, too," he said darkly.

Sky swallowed, and went to the next number that came to mind. She put the phone to her ear. It rang several time. _Pick up, pick up, pick up_, she chanted in her head.

"Hello?" said a voice on the other end. It was slightly fuzzy.

"Jace," Sky breathed. "Thank _Raziel_."

"... Who is-"

"Listen," she said. "I'm underground, and I found Magnus."

"What?" his voice was slightly fuzzy again. "I can't-"

"Thymeless," she said. "That's where-"

"What are you doing here?!" a voice boomed from behind her. She spun around and saw Edwin Tron, looking extremely angry, and dangerous.

Sky gasped, and held her phone in her hand, but not to her ear.

"... What's happening?" Sky asked, not able to hide the fear in her voice. "Who are you?"

Edwin clenched his jaw, and his hands lit up.

"Clary, _run_!" Magnus yelled. "RUN!"

Sky took off to one of the other sides of the room, and grabbed a metal rod from the wall. When she turned back to him, he was in front of her. The light came out of his hands, and she was thrown back. She crashed into a table full of things, and screamed. The table crashed to the ground, and a ton of vials smashed, mixing multi-colored liquids.

"Clary!" Magnus called. That was when she noticed Magnus had called her Clary- twice.

Her phone made a strange sizzling noise as she potions touched it. Smoke came up from it.

Sky moaned at the pain she now felt in her back, and everywhere the glass had cut. One of the potions- a purple one touched her skin, and she screamed a gut wrenching scream. It felt like liquid fire.

Edwin came over her and scowled. "Troublesome brat," he spat. That was the last thing Skylar saw before she blacked out.

* * *

**I don't know why, but webs isn't working, so I can't post a sneak peek. Sorry.**

**What did you think if the chapter? PM me or leave a review if you have any ideas. Thanks! :)**

**Wisterian Princess**


	15. Chapter 15

**I know I left you all in suspense! I hope you aren't disappointed. Here we go, chapter 15!**

* * *

Jace was changing into his swim trunks when his phone rang. He looked at the screen, it said the number was unknown. He answered it. "Hello?"

"Jace," said the voice on the other line. "Thank _Raziel_," the voice sounded familiar...

"... Who is-"

"Listen," she said. "I'm underground, and I found-" he didn't hear what she said next.

"What?" he still wasn't sure who was on the other line. "I can't-"

"Thyme," she said, and it sounded fuzzy again. "That's where-"

"What are you doing here?!" another voice boomed.

"... What's happening?" said the girl, fear in her voice. "Who are you?"

"Clary, run!" someone else yelled. "RUN!" Jace's eyes widened, and his breath stopped. That was why the voice sounded so familiar. It sounded like Clary.

There were a few grunts, then a scream, and a loud crash.

Jace gasped and tensed, unsure of what to do.

"Clary!" someone yelled faintly in the background, then the call disconnected.

Jace looked at the screen of his phone with a blank expression.

_Thyme_. He'd heard that name multiple times. Once in a dream, and once when Magnus had said it, and now...

Could this possibly mean that Clary was still alive?

* * *

"There you are," said Brooke, walking into her parent's bedroom. Skylar was sleeping in a tank top, and long shorts. Brooke briefly wondered why she'd changed, but shrugged it off.

She walked over to her and put her hand on her shoulder. "Sky?"

Skylar stirred slightly. "Is he okay?" she asked quietly, still half-asleep.

Brooke's brow furrowed. "Is who okay?"

"Jace," she whispered. "Did he get away in time?" Skylar had never opened her eyes.

Brooke blinked. She must have been dreaming. "Yes," she said. "Jace is okay."

Sky turned her face more towards the pillow. "Tell Thyme..." she trailed off.

Brooke smiled at her sleeping little sister. It reminded her of when she was younger- especially since she was spouting gibberish. _Tell time_. Brooke snickered, and decided to let her sleep.

She left the room, and heard a conversation happening downstairs.

"Jace, this is crazy," said Alec. "Someone's probably just messing with you."

"But it was _her_ voice," Jace insisted.

"Well Skylar had her voice, too. There could be other people out there- a demon maybe who's imitating her. Jace, Clary's dead. I'm sorry, but she is. She couldn't be calling you. Someone's probably trying to draw you out."

Brooke hovered by the top of the stairs and listened.

"... Maybe you're right," said Jace. "I'm sorry. That was foolish of me," then she heard the back door open, and close, followed by silence.

Brooke went down the stairs, and saw Alec leaning on the kitchen island. "What was that about?" she asked.

Alec looked up at her. "Uh, nothing. Don't worry about it."

Brooke bit her bottom lip, worried. "... Did Jace think he got contacted by Clary?" she asked slowly.

Alec didn't say anything for a few seconds. "He thought he did. You don't think Sky would've done anything like that, do you?"

Brooke's eyes widened. "What? No. Of course not."

Alec looked down and shook his head. "You're right. Sorry, I shouldn't have accused her. Where is she, anyway?" he looked back up at her.

"Sleeping upstairs," Brooke smiled at the thought.

Alec raised his eyebrow. "... Okay."

Brooke frowned. "What?"

Alec shook his head, then went outside.

* * *

Skylar woke up with a groan. She sat up and yawned, then looked around. She didn't remember how she'd gotten there. She remembered leaving the house, then... nothing. Had they gone demon hunting and she was poisoned? How long had she been out?

She got up and left the room, walking down the hall, and pausing at the top of the stairs, hearing Brooke's laugh. She went down the stair, and saw Brooke standing by the kitchen island, and Jace sitting at the table.

Brooke looked over at her and smiled. "Hey," she held an apple out to her. "Want one? I just bought them."

Sky walked over to her slowly, and took it.

Brooke frowned. "What's wrong?"

"... How long was I out?"

Brooke shrugged. "A few hours. Why?"

Sky frowned. She walked over to the calendar on the kitchen wall, and looked at it. It was the same day. That morning, she'd woken up in her own bedroom with Jace. She blushed at the memory, and looked down.

"Sky, what's wrong?"

Sky turned and looked at her. "Nothing," she gave a small smile. "Nevermind," she took a bite of her apple, and went back up the stairs.

* * *

That night, Sky sat behind the house, leaning against the outside wall. The only lighting she had came through the sliding glass door, but everything looked brighter tonight for some reason.

She had her sketchbook resting on her knees- drawing Jace- and headphones on. She didn't know the music, since she'd borrowed Brooke's MP3 player because she'd lost her phone.

She saw something out of the corner of her eye, and jumped when she saw who was crouching next to her. She slammed the sketchbook shut, and ripped out the headphones. "Why didn't you say something?" she hissed.

Jace smirked. "I did. You had headphones in. Were you drawing me?"

Skylar blushed. "No."

Jace chuckled. "Mind if I look."

Sky's blush darkened. "I do, actually. My sketchbook is kinda like my diary."

The look on Jace's face transformed from a smirk to... _shock_?

Skylar scoffed. "I know. It's kind of weird, isn't it?"

Jace's expression didn't change.

Sky wrapped the headphones around the MP3 player, and put it into her pocket, then picked up her pencil and sketchpad, and stood up.

Jace still had that look on his face, and Sky frowned. "Are you okay?"

He blinked, then swallowed and looked away. "Fine," he muttered.

Sky shrugged it off, and returned her sketchpad to her room. It was then when she realized why she could see in the dark. She had the night vision rune drawn on her arm.

She frowned, not remembering drawing it, but tried to ignore it. She changed into short shorts, and a white button down- leaving the top two buttons unbuttoned- and put her hair into two messy braids. She couldn't remember why she was edgey in the first place now.

She applied her mint lip balm, and went back downstairs. Everyone was socializing in the kitchen, but Sky didn't see Jace. She frowned, and went to the back door, sliding it open. She poked her head out, and saw Jace in the same place she had been minutes ago, staring out at the ocean.

She stepped out, and shut the door, then walked around him, and sat next to him. "Jace, what's wrong?"

He didn't say anything, just stared out at the ocean.

"Jace," she touched his arm, then he looked at her. He swallowed, then looked back at the ocean.

"I got a phone call from someone today- someone who wanted me to think Clary was alive."

Skylar bit her tongue, but didn't know why. "Who was it?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. They sounded like her, too. It was..." he trailed off.

"... Unpleasant?" she suggested.

He looked back at her, and held her gaze for a few seconds. "I like your hair like that," he said, smiling slightly.

Skylar blushed, then looked down. "Thanks," she muttered.

There were a few seconds of silence before either of them said anything.

"You're a lot like Clary, you know."

Sky looked up at him again. He wasn't looking out at the ocean like she was expecting. He was looking at her. "I know," she said. "I saw the picture."

"Not just that," he said. "She liked to draw, too."

She nodded slowly, then looked out at the ocean.

"She also used to eat apples on a regular basis."

Sky looked at him, and frowned. He was looking at the ocean now.

"You're almost just like her," he muttered. "Almost as if you were..."

Sky swallowed. "Is that why you kissed me?" she wasn't sure if _he'd_ kissed _her_, or if _she'd_ kissed _him_, but that didn't matter. "Because I remind you of your girlfriend?" she tried not to sound bitter, but she couldn't help it.

Jace looked at her quickly. "That's not what I-"

"I'm not Clary, Jace," she said in a firm tone. "I can't _be_ her for you. You're dating my sister. Date _her_. I'm Skylar Ravenwalker- not Clary Fray. Got it?" she stood up and walked around him.

He stood up, and grabbed her arm. "Skylar, that's not what I meant," he said firmly.

She looked back at him, slightly surprised at his hard expression.

"She was different," he said. "Just like you. She wasn't like other girls. She was... special, but in the best way," his eyes had softened, and he was looking at her meaningfully.

Skylar's heart pounded in her chest.

"I fell in love for the first time with her, and I've fallen in love again- with you."

Skylar stopped breathing, completely shocked.

"You're beautiful, smart, talented, and loyal. I respect how you don't want to hurt your sister as your own expense, and I can't-"

"Stop," Sky said quickly. Her vision began to blur slightly, and she knew she was in danger of crying. "I can't hear anymore of this."

Jace suddenly looked hurt.

"Not like that," she said quickly. "I can't hear this for the reason you said. It just makes it harder to stay away for you," tears were now running down her face, but she didn't care.

Jace slowly released her arm, letting his hand slowly run down her arm, then paused at her hand.

Skylar swallowed. She put her hand on either side of his face, and pulled his face down slowly, and kissed his forehead- though she wanted to kiss his lips. "I love you, too," she whispered, half wishing he wouldn't hear. But he definitely did.

She released him, then walked around him, and walked around the house- not wanting anyone else to see her cry.

* * *

_Skylar walked along the shoreline of the beach, the sun setting behind the still ocean. She paused suddenly, not remembering how she'd gotten there._

_"Skylar!" someone called._

_Sky turned and saw Simon running towards her. "Simon?"_

_He stopped in front of her and started panting. He looked exhausted. "Skylar, what the hell are you doing?!"_

_Skylar frowned. "What are you talking about?"_

_"I'm talking about-" his face tightened, then he fell to the ground._

_"Simon!" Skylar crouched at his side, and he was just his clothes. She gasped, and then something came out of the collar of his shirt- a rat. "Simon?"_

_The rat looked up at her and squeaked. She picked him up, and put him in the pocket of her jacket._

_"I'll get help," she said. She ran across the beach, and to Edwin's house. His back door was open, and she ran in- then froze. This wasn't Edwin's house. It looked more like a dungeon._

_Edwin- who was in the center of the room- turned to her and snarled._

_"Edwin?" she stared at him in disbelief._

_The rat in her pocket squeaked uncontrollably._

_A hand grabbed her arm. "Skylar!"_

_Sky turned and saw it was Jace._

_"Run!" he pulled her out ot the house, and took her to a motorcycle parked on the beach. He got on, then so did she._

_Edwin came out of the house, and ran at them._

_The motorcycle rumbled to life, and shot across the beach, then lifted into the air. Skylar gasped, and grabbed Jace's belt- afraid she'd fall._

_She looked down, but no longer saw Redondo, she saw Manhattan, and the sun was rising._

"Sky!" Brooke shook her sister awake, and Skylar gasped. "Are you okay?" Brooke looked concerned.

Skylar slowly sat up and blinked, adjusting to the darkness- the effects of her rune had obviously worn off.

"Were you having a bad dream?" Brooke asked.

"Um," Skylar looked around the room. It was her parent's room, and Brooke was in her pajamas by her side. "I can't remember," Sky was only half-lying. The dream was disappearing fast. The only thing she could remember was being on the back of the motorcycle with Jace and a rat, looking over Manhattan.

Brooke rubbed comforting circles on Skylar's back.

"Brooke, stop," Skylar said firmly. It didn't feel right to be comforted by her after she'd betrayed her.

Brooke took her hand off Skylar's back. "Sorry."

Sky used her middle fingers to massage her temples.

"Sky... What did I do?"

Sky looked at her. "What?"

Brooke looked a little hurt. "Did I do something? Why have you been pushing me away?"

Skylar swallowed.

"You used to tell me everything, but ever since you got to New York..." she trailed off. "Sky, are you mad at me for leaving?"

"No," she said quickly. "I just..." she swallowed. "You deserved better than me," she muttered.

Brooke frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Skylar got out of bed.

"Where are you going?" asked Brooke, sitting up, looking confused.

"I'm staying at Adrian's tonight," she said. "I'll see you later," Sky left the room without another word, leaving Brooke alone, and very confused.

* * *

**I know a lot of you are probably pissed that Sky's memories got erased again, but I'm not done with this story yet! I know sorta what's gonna happen, and it will be at least a few more chapters. However, some of you may have kinda liked this chapter because of the love confession?**

**Anyway, tell me what you thought please :) Next chapter coming tomorrow (which I need to finish)**

**Any more requests or guesses? I love hearing guesses, and requests are helpful :)**

**Thanks!**

**Wisterian Princess**


	16. Chapter 16

**I literally ****_just _****finished writing this. Whew!**

**Here we go! Chapter 16! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Sky? Skylar, wake up."

Skylar's eyes fluttered open. Adrian was crouched on the ground in front of her. She suddenly remembered the previous night, when she'd gotten the Foxwrights' spare key, and crashed on their couch without their knowledge. She sat up and yawned.

"Mind telling me why you're on my couch?" Adrian asked with a crooked smile on his face. She instantly felt better.

"Just needed to sleep alone," she said. "Morning."

He smiled. "Morning."

Skylar took the knit blanket off her and stood up, adjusting her cropped tanktop.

"You're sleeping with Brooke, right? Does she kick a lot?" Adrian joked.

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know," she teased.

His smirk dropped, and he blushed.

Sky burst out laughing. She felt _much_ better. "I'm only teasing."

"Right," Adrian laughed nervously. "Anyway, Thea's already at your house. Shouldn't we join her?"

Sky smiled. "Yeah."

* * *

Skylar and Adrian walked into her house through the sliding glass door. Everyone was hanging around wither in the kitchen, on the couch, or at the table.

"Hey," said Brooke apprehensively.

Sky smiled warmly at her. "Morning."

Brooke smiled.

Sky sat down at the table. _Sorry about last night_, Sky mouthed to Brooke.

Brooke smiled, and winked.

Someone set a mug down in front of her. "Black coffee."

She looked up as Jace sat next to her.

A smile played at the corners of her lips. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess," he glanced at Brooke.

And Sky giggled quietly, turning to her coffee and taking a sip.

"Care to share?" Jace said.

Sky pushed the mug towards him, and he chuckled. "I _meant_ why you crashed at you ex-boyfriend's house."

Sky blushed slightly, and pulled her mug back to her. "Weird dream," she muttered, remembering being on a flying motorcycle with a rat in her pocket.

"What kind?" Jace asked playfully in her ear.

She blushed, knowing what he was implying. "Not like _that_," she hissed.

Jace chuckled.

Skylar saw Adrian out of the corner of her eye, staring at them. She knew what he thought, and shook her head subtly at him. He took a gulp of his orange juice, and walked away.

Sky took another sip of her coffee.

"I just realized something," said Brooke. "We're going back to New York _tomorrow_."

Isabelle whistled. "That was fast."

"Next _we_ have to visit," said Thea.

Brooke smiled. "We'll see," she winked at her.

Thea grinned at the wink, and winked back.

Someone's phone made a noise, and Alec pulled out his. A look of relief and happiness crossed his face. "It's Magnus."

There was a twitch at the back of Skylar's mind, and she wondered why.

Isabelle looked up. "That's great! What does it say?"

Alec glanced at her, then put his phone away.

Thea giggled. "Something _boyfriedy_."

Alec blushed, and Isabelle laughed.

* * *

_Jace wasn't sure where he was, or how he got there, but was pretty sure he was dreaming. The clouds were rolling over the sky way too fast for it to be real life._

_"Jace."_

_Jace turned and froze when he saw Clary standing there, looking at him._

_"Clary," he whispered._

_She walked up to him and gave a gentle smile. "I came to talk to you. I figured you needed some advice."_

_Jace reached out and touched her freckled face lightly- making sure she was really there._

_"This is a dream," she said. "I can't really be here, and you know it."_

_Jace swallowed. "I know."_

_Clary tapped his shoulder, and he raised an eyebrow. "Why are you with Brooke?" Clary asked. "You don't like her in that way."_

_Jace swallowed._

_"You like Sky, don't you?" Clary smiled. "Love her even. Why aren't you with her?"_

_Jace took a deep breath. "Because she doesn't want to hurt her sister."_

_Clary frowned, grabbed his shoulder, and shook it. "Sister? Sky doesn't have a sister."_

_Jace frowned._

_Clary went on her tiptoes, and leaned over to his ear. "Jace!"_

Jace jumped, and grabbed whoever's shoulders were over his.

Skylar gasped, and backed up, looking down at him. He was lying on the sand, in the shade of the house, and it was in the late in the day. "You're awake."

Jace searched her face. She looked so much like Clary, but her expression was different. Jace nodded numbly.

"We're going out to an early dinner," she said. "Care to join us?" Skylar looked like she was affected by Jace as much as he was affected by her, but she was trying to hide it.

"Can we talk for a second?" Jace asked, sitting up.

Sky nodded, and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Sure. What is it?"

Jace swallowed, preparing himself. "You told me you love me, too, but you won't be with me because you don't want to hurt Brooke."

Skylar swallowed, and looked down.

"But what good does this do?" Jace asked. "I can't love Brooke because I love you, so how is this supposed to play out?"

Skylar bit her bottom lip.

"Am I supposed to just stay with her forever, even though I don't love her?"

"Jace," Skylar looked up at him finally. Her eyes were slightly teary. "Can we _not_ do this now?"

"Then when can we?" Jace asked, reaching over and taking her hand.

A single tear rolled down Sky's cheek. "... I don't..." she swallowed, and looked down again. "Jace, I'm not going to hurt Brooke. It's not only a matter of right now, but I'm the reason Brooke's unhappy right now. You haven't told her you love her, but she loves you. That's my fault," she looked up at him now, more tears in her eyes.

Jace swallowed. "It isn't your fault," he said slowly. "I just don't. Whether you were here or not wouldn't have changed that."

Skylar pulled her hand away from his, and stood up. "I'm staying home," she said. "Tell them I don't feel well," and with that, she went inside the sliding glass door.

* * *

Thea rocked back and forth on her heels, waiting for Aaron. A few nights ago, he'd agreed to go on a date with her if she agreed to let them have their night. She was excited.

She'd gotten dressed up for it, too. She wore a bright pink sundress, with wedge flip flops, and a handbag, and her makeup was blue eyeshadow, with darker cherry lip gloss.

Aaron came out of his house and trotted down his porch steps. "Hey," he said.

Thea smiled. "Hey."

They started walking down the sidewalk.

"What did you have planned?" Thea asked.

"Um..." Aaron scratched the back of his head. "What do _you_ want to do?"

Thea's smile dropped, and she looked at him with an annoyed expression. "A _real_ date, Aaron. When was the last time you went on a date?"

Aaron shrugged. "A little while."

Thea rolled her eyes. "Well, I can see _why_."

He looked at her, confused.

"First," said Thea. "Girls like to be complimented on what they wear when they dress up- even if you don't care."

Aaron nodded. "Right. Got it."

Thea looked annoyed again. "Second," at least half-plan the day. You could possibly go shopping, or to a movie. Something the girl would enjoy- probably not a zombie movie."

Aaron expelled a breath, and looked ahead. "What else?"

"Let _her_ talk," Thea smiled. "Girls like to talk, so ask them questions about themselves, or things they're interested in."

Aaron raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "Thea, I've gone on plenty of dates, and none of them went like that."

Thea gave him a look. "How many _second_ dates did you get?"

He frowned, and looked away.

Thea smirked. "_See_? Give my advise a shot today, see how it goes, yeah?"

He thought for a second, then nodded. "Okay. Let's give this a shot. You look nice, by the way."

Thea smiled. "Thanks."

* * *

Brooke stared intently down at the untouched cucumber sushi on her plate. She was sitting next to Jace at the sushi place her and her family used to go when she was younger, but it had been a while since she'd been there.

Brooke was distracted- distracted because she'd walked around the house to see what was taking Sky so long, and had overheard a conversation that started with '_You told me you loved me, too._'

She'd always hated eavesdroppers, but couldn't help herself. She'd stayed, and listened to the full conversation. She half regretted it, half didn't. Half regretted it because she now knew that Jace was in love with her sister, and therefore could never love her. Half didn't because she knew the reason her sister had been so distant ever since she'd gotten to New York, and what was causing her pain.

Brooke loved Jace, but apparently, so did Skylar, and it was making her unhappy. This time, like all the other times in their lives together, Brooke could fix Skylar's unhappiness, but it was at the expense of her own.

Brooke had done this dozens of times in the past, and had always respected Skylar's relationship with Adrian, even though she liked him, too. The thought crossed Brooke's mind to just have her boyfriend, and to let Sky respect her relationship, like she had with Adrian, but then thought again. Skylar was doing the same thing Brooke had done, but this time, Sky was in _love_ with Jace, and he loved her back. It was nothing like Brooke's little crush on Adrian.

Brooke had to make a decision.

* * *

Aaron had taken Thea out on a proper, real date. He'd taken her to the mall, where she tried on dozens of outfits, and he patently gave her his opinion. After that, they went out to dinner, where he payed for the entire meal. Then, they went to a movie- an R-rated movie that Aaron bought the tickets for, and snuck her into.

Now, it was dark outside, and Aaron was walking Thea home, holding her hand. "You did good tonight," Thea smiled. "You sure know how to show a girl a good time."

The corner of Aaron's mouth pulled up. "Yep. Still got it."

Thea giggled. "Yeah _right_! You only _just_ got it."

Aaron rolled his eyes, and Thea stuck out her tongue.

They arrived in front of Thea's house, where the front porch light was on. Aaron walked Thea up the steps, and she turned to face him.

"Thanks for tonight," she said. "It was _totally_ worth it."

"Yeah," Aaron smiled. "I had fun, too- despite the amount of time you spent trying on clothes."

Thea laughed. "Thanks. Goodnight, Aaron," Thea turned to her door, but Aaron put his hand on her shoulder.

"Real date, remember?"

Thea frowned, not knowing what he meant.

Aaron surprised her by coming down, and kissing her. Thea's eyes went wide with surprise. This would be her first kiss. In that second, she decided to make it worth it. She closed her eyes, and imitated what he was doing with his lips.

Aaron wrapped his muscular arms around her tiny body, and she wrapped her arms around his neck- like they did in the movies.

After several more seconds, they parted. Their lips were hovering near each other, and Thea could smell the pasta sauce on his breath.

"Goodnight... Thea," Aaron said seductively. He slowly released her, then walked down her front porch steps, leaving her in a daze.

Thea touched her lips, and blushed. She'd _not_ been expecting that.

* * *

Sky lie on her side in her parent's bed with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her stomach grumbled with hunger, but she ignored it, not wanting to get up.

She was sure her her makeup was all over her face now, ruined by her tears, but she didn't care. Her mind kept wandering back to Jace's words, and what he'd said.

He was right, partially. Skylar wouldn't be the one to hurt her sister, she decided. Even if Jace broke up with Brooke, Skylar wouldn't date him. It wouldn't be right.

Skylar's stomach grumbled again, but she ignored it.

She jumped when her bedroom door opened, but didn't look to see who it was. Someone sat on the bed beside her, and put their hand on her leg. "Sky?" it was Brooke.

"Hey," she said, and sniffed.

"... Were you crying?" Brooke asked quietly.

Sky had forgotten. "_Really_ bad headache," she lied.

Brooke was quiet for a few seconds. "... I brought you something," she held out an apple to her, and she took it gratefully, and nibbled at it.

"... Sky, can we talk?" Brooke voice broke, and Skylar realized she hadn't noticed how sad she sounded.

Skylar sat up, and looked at her with concern. Brooke's eyes were shiny, and she was clearly fighting off tears. "Brooke, what's wrong?" Skylar held the apple near her lap, ignoring her grumbling stomach.

Brooke shook her head. "We're not talking about me. We're talking about you," she took a deep breath before saying more. "You're in love with Jace, aren't you." it wasn't a question.

Skylar's eyes went wide- very wide. "... N-no. I'm... No. W-where did this come from?"

Brooke pressed her lips together, and a single tear rolled down her face. "... An overheard conversation between you and Jace before dinner."

Sky's jaw dropped open. She'd _heard_ all that?

"How much..." she couldn't finish her sentence.

"I heard all of it," Brooke sounded like she was fighting off tears, but failing. "Starting with Jace saying you loved him, too."

She'd hear the whole thing. "... Brooke..."

"I'm going to break up with him," Brooke said quickly.

Skylar was speechless. She had no idea what to say.

"And not just for you," Brooke clarified. "But for me, too."

Skylar's hand went over her mouth. "... Brooke-"

"I'm sleeping at Adrian's tonight," Brooke stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sky," Brooke left the room, leaving Skylar staring after her.

* * *

**Feel free to tell me what you think! I'd love to hear it!**

**I'm working on the playlist now, so please tell me if you have any songs you want me to use :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Just finished this chapter. I'm sorry I've fallen behind :/ that's why I haven't been posting sneak peeks.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It isn't my best, but I hope you like it anyway :)**

* * *

Adrian sat on his couch, flipping through channels. He'd seen Thea come back about an hour ago, and she'd gone to bed. Adrian couldn't sleep, but he didn't know why.

He heard his front door open, and close. He looked up and frowned. Did Sky come to stay at his house again?

Brooke wandered into the TV room, tears streaked down her face. "Oh," she said when she saw him. "I thought you'd be asleep."

Adrian turned off the TV, and stood up. "Brooke. Are you okay?"

Brooke pressed her lips together, and nodded, then burst into tears.

Adrian instantly crossed the room and put his arms around her. "Hey..."

She wrapped his arms around his neck, and cried into his shoulder.

"Brooke, what's wrong?" he asked.

She didn't say anything, just kept crying.

Adrian rubbed comforting circles. "It's okay," he said. "You're okay. What happened, Brooke?"

She slowed down on crying just long enough to get the words out. "I just broke up with Jace," she continued taking deep breaths, trying to stop crying.

Adrian's eyes widened. "Oh. Why?"

It took her a full minute to answer his question. "For Sky."

Adrian locked his jaw. He knew it. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Brooke sniffed, and nodded.

* * *

Skylar saw the sun rising through her parent's bedroom window. She'd stayed up all night. What she'd feared had come true; Brooke found out about her being in love with Jace, and was hurt over it.

She wasn't sure she wanted to get out of bed today, but remembered she was going back to the Institute, and had to.

She sighed, got up, and began packing her and Brooke's things.

She bet she looked like a mess. She hadn't changed last night, or cleaned off her makeup. She slipped into the hall, and into the bathroom to shower.

The hot water helped her clear her head, and she felt a little better, but the guilt still felt like it was weighing down on her.

When she was dressed and ready, she went downstairs, and plopped down at the table.

"Morning," said Isabelle.

Skylar nodded at her numbly. She noticed Brooke, Adrian and Jace were all absent, and sighed inwardly.

Thea whistled. "_Someone_ needs coffee. How do you take it?"

"Black," she said flatly.

Thea wrinkled her nose. "Really? Ew."

Skylar crossed her arms, and rested them on the table, then rested her forehead on her arms.

Their conversation went on, but Sky didn't pay any attention until she she heard someone set a mug in front of her. She looked up and saw it was Jace, and he sat next to her. He exchanged a look with her that said Brooke had broken up with him last night, and he knew why.

Sky swallowed, and took a sip of her coffee.

"Hey, where's Brooke?" asked Aaron.

"My place," said Thea. Sky glanced up at this. "Her and Adrian are passed out on the couch," she giggled.

Sky pressed her lips together, and looked down at the the wooden table.

"Well, she should wake up soon," said Isabelle. "We're leaving in a few hours. She still needs to pack."

"Done," Sky mumbled, taking another sip.

Isabelle glanced at her. She obviously was picking up on Skylar's mood, but she didn't really care. Isabelle went back into another conversation with the others, and Sky didn't listen.

"How are you doing?" Jace asked quietly.

"I didn't sleep," she said plainly. "You?" she glanced at him.

He looked tired, but not as much as she felt. "Fine. I'm guessing you know then."

Sky nodded, and took a sip of her coffee.

"Care to share?"

Sky shrugged. "I don't really feel like talking about it right now."

Jace chuckled quietly, and she looked at him. He was smiling slightly. "I _meant_ your coffee. I didn't sleep much, either."

The corner of her mouth tilted up, and she pushed the mug over to him.

* * *

Skylar stood on the beach with her bag slug over her shoulder. She felt something at the back of her head pounding when she saw Edwin Tron walk over to them, but assumed she was just tired.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Not yet," said Alec. "We're still waiting on Brooke."

"She isn't coming," said Adrian, walking over with a dark look on his face.

Sky's eyes widened. Brooke wasn't going back to New York?

"_What_?" said Isabelle.

"She wants to spend more time here," Adrian had no emotion in his voice, it was just flat. "She's gonna go back later."

Sky swallowed, and Adrian looked at her. Her stomach tightened, realizing Adrian probably knew everything.

"Bye," he said, walking up to her and taking her into an awkward embrace. "Brooke says be happy," he mumbled in her ear. "She wants you to go for it."

Skylar gasped quietly, and Adrian pulled back, looking straight into her eyes. "I'll see ya, Sky."

Sky swallowed. "See ya," it was barely audible, and once Adrian back away, Thea pounced on her, surprising her.

"_Text_ me," she said. "Got it?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

Thea back up, and made an annoyed face. "Seriously."

Skylar nodded, and Thea backed up again.

Aaron took her into his large, muscular arms. "I'll take care of Brooke," he said quietly. "Don't worry."

Sky nodded numbly, then Aaron back away.

"Here we go," said Edwin, aiming his hands at the outer wall of their house, and a portal opened.

Skylar let everyone go ahead of her, and once it was her turn, she was stopped by a pair of arms wrapping around her from behind. She gasped.

"I forgive you," Brooke murmured in her ear.

Skylar turned into her embrace, and wrapped her arms tightly around her She felt tears come to her eyes.

"I'll see you soon, okay?" said Brooke.

Sky nodded. "You didn't need to do what you did," she mumbled into her shoulder.

"I did," Brooke said. "Not only for you, Sky, but for me, too."

Sky pulled back, and looked at Brooke's face.

Brooke was smiling gently, a serene, slightly sad look on her face. "Follow your heart," she whispered. She turned Sky around by her shoulders, the guided her to the portal.

Sky numbly stepped forward, and she was in the Institute's courtyard.

"There you are," said Isabelle. "We were about to go back and get you," Isabelle frowned slightly. "Are you _crying_?"

Skylar quickly wiped the tears from her face. "No."

Jace looked at her with a slightly concerned expression.

Skylar walked passed them, and into the Institute.

* * *

She was back on that motorcycle, flying over Manhattan. The wind was blowing through her hair, and all she was thinking about was hanging on for dear life, and not dropping the rat in her pocket. The sun was rising in the distance. Just ten minutes ago, she didn't know if she'd ever see the sunrise again.

The scene slowly began to fade away, and she was half there, half somewhere else.

The bike began to rumble, and jerk around, and she gasped, and grabbed Jace's belt to keep herself on, but realized the scene had changed. She was in her bedroom in the Institute, Jace hovering over her and looking slightly surprised.

She looked at her hands. She was gripping his belt- like she had been in the dream- but she wasn't in danger of falling from the sky.

She blushed furiously, and released him. "Sorry," she said quickly. "I was dreaming and..." she realized that sounded worse, and blushed more.

A crooked smile stretched across Jace's face.

"No, not like..." Sky trailed off. She wasn't gonna make it worse. She blushed tomato red, and used her hands to cover her face, hiding herself from her embarrassment.

Jace chuckled. "Alright then. Anyway, there are demons somewhere, so we're going demon hunting," his mouth curled into a crooked smile. "Do you want to join us, or shall I leave you to your fantasies?"

Skylar removed her hand from her mouth, and punched him firmly in the arm.

He seemed slightly surprised. "Ow."

"_Says_ the boy who has snuck into my _bedroom_, and is currently _hovering_ over me!" she was more embarrassed right then then she had ever been in her entire life.

Jace backed up a little and chuckled.

Skylar sat up. "Yeah, I'll go. I'll meet you in the weapons room."

Jace nodded, then left.

* * *

Skylar, Alec, Isabelle and Jace all walked into the building.

"Hold on," said Skylar, pausing. "Haven't we been here before?"

"Yeah," said Isabelle. "When Adrian came with us."

Skylar's eyes widened. Last time she was there, she'd kissed Jace. She blushed, and looked down to hide it.

"Okay, we should split up," said Isabelle.

"Great," said Jace. "I'll go with Skylar."

Sky looked up at him sharply.

"We'll take downstairs," said Alec. "You guys take upstairs."

Jace nodded. "See you guys when we're done."

Skylar followed him numbly up the stairs. "Is there a reason you wanted to come with me?" Sky asked, trying to stay firm.

"Not really," said Jace, not turning around.

Sky had to admit she was a little disappointed, but quickly shoved the thought out of her head. _Brooke_, she reminded herself. She wouldn't date someone her sister dated.

"There's a demon ahead," Jace said calmly.

Skylar pulled out her seraph blade. "Michael," the blade glowed to life, and she heard a demon growl.

"Gabriel," said Jace, and his blade glowed to life, too.

The demon came into view. It looked like a cross between a fly, and an alien, and there was slime dripping from it's mouth. Skylar knew exactly what kind of demon this was.

"Crassus demon," they said in unison, and glanced at each other for a brief second. Jace ran at it. As it was about to attack him, he jumped over it's short frame. The thing spun around, and Skylar moved in. The dove at it, seraph blade extended, and it went through it's back, and came out it's chest.

It squealed a high pitched squeal, and looked at the ceiling, spewing it's slimy poison. Sky tumbled to the side as it rained down. The demon fell to the ground, and folded into itself.

Sky expelled a breath.

"You okay?" said Jace.

Sky nodded, and felt a numbing sensation in her left fingers. She looked at her hand, and saw a single drop of the gray-green slime on her hand. She quickly wiped it off on her pants, but it was too late. She could feel her entire hand getting tingly. "Damn it," she said through clenched teeth.

Jace walked over to her, and Skylar saw her vision start getting skippy. He was right in front of her, she was pretty sure, and she was leaning on the wall. "Skylar," his voice sounded distorted, and strange. He didn't sound like Jace.

Her vision began to swirl, and stretch. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see anymore. Her eyes hurt.

"It got you, didn't it?"

"Shut up," she snapped. She didn't want to be rude, but his voice was so far from his own, that it was starting to scare her.

"We need to get you back to the Institute."

"Stop talking!" she was surprised that her own voice was so distorted, too. At first, she wasn't sure if it _was_ her own.

She was fairly certain she was sitting on the floor. Next thing she knew, she was lying down... or she was being carried...

"Jace," she said. "Is that you?"

"Yes," he didn't sound at all like Jace.

"Prove it."

"... Our first demon was at Pandemonium."

Skylar had to think for a few seconds to remember if he was right. "... Don't let me go," she said, then she blacked out.

_She had to be dreaming. Everything around her was black- completely black, and she felt nothing beneath her feet. "Hello?" she called. "Is anyone there?"_

_"I'm here," said a voice out of no where._

_She gasped, knowing who's voice it was. "Sebastian."_

_"You killed me, Clarissa. I'm here to return the favor."_

_She gasped, and suddenly, she was somewhere else. She was on the beach behind her house. She heard child's laughter, and turned. She saw her and Brooke, when they were seven and eight, playing in the sand, making a sand castle._

_"Put the shell on top," said the little girl with the short, honey colored hair._

_The brunette girl put a seashell on top of the castle, and they giggled._

_This was a memory, but somehow, it was wrong. The two little girls before her didn't exist._

_She heard another laugh, but this one was different. It was dark, and evil._

_Skylar spun around, looking for him, but his laughter was everywhere. She looked back at the kids. They didn't see her, and they didn't hear the laughter. Skylar put her hands on either side of her head. "Get out of my head!" she yelled. "GET OUT!"_

_She had a brief flash of something else, and it was only a few seconds. She was lying on a table. She turned her head to the side, and opened her eyes a sliver, and saw a brunette girl on the table beside her, unconscious, and someone was drawing the parabatai run on her arm. Brooke._

_She was walking down a staircase now. It was dark, and long. She opened the door at the end, then flashed to a table, like she'd just seen. Someone lie there, but she couldn't see his face. She flashed ahead again, and was getting thrown against a table, and glass vials shattered._

_"Clary!"_

_Then, everything went black. _

* * *

**Another cliffhanger, I know. Next chapter is not even a little written, so...**

**I think I'm going to completely redo the playlist for this story, so if you guys could give me some suggestions, that would be great!**

**I really love it when you guys leave me review. It totally makes my day :)**

**My twitter: WisterianPrince**


	18. Chapter 18

**Yesbooks****: Wait so she saw brooke getting a parabati rune or... im confused?**

**Me****: Clary saw Brooke first getting her rune, when she was first with Thyme. Brooke and Skylar thought they became parabatai, but Thyme did it. They still are parabatai, but they didn't do it on their own free will. When they got their runes, they'd never actually met**

* * *

Skylar sat bolt upright, and gasped.

"_See_? I told you we just had to wait it out," said Isabelle.

Skylar looked around. She was in the Institute's infirmary, and Isabelle, Alec and Jace were all around her bed.

"Well good," said Alec. "Because Magnus still hasn't responded, and I've called him..." he looked at his phone. "Twenty three times."

Isabelle whistled.

"How are you feeling?" Jace asked her.

Sky felt kinda strange, but closer to normal. "Fine," her voice sounded rough. She cleared her throat.

Jace took a glass of water off the nightstand, and handed it to her. She took it, and drank it all down.

"You talk a lot in your sleep," said Isabelle.

Sky looked at her. "I do?"

Alec nodded.

"You said '_get out of my head_', and later, you said Brooke's name," said Isabelle.

Sky frowned, remembering.

"You also said '_Sebastian_'" said Alec, sounding suspicious.

Sky remembered the voice in the blackness. "Who's Sebastian?"

Isabelle and Alec glanced at each other, then at Jace at the other side of her bed.

Sky turned to Jace. He had a hard look on his face, and looked like he was partially lost in thought. "What?"

"Nothing," said Isabelle.

"What did you see?" asked Alec. He sounded more like he was interrogating her rather than being curious.

Skylar looked at him, and frowned. "What is it?" she asked. "Who's Sebastian?"

She saw Isabelle get a hateful look, and look away.

Jace sat down on the bed next to her. "I'll tell you later," he said quietly.

Sky cleared her throat again, still feeling a little rough. "It was a memory... sort of. It was Brooke and me when we were little, and I heard this voice..." she trailed off. "And there was a different voice, too, and he..." she glanced at Jace, and decided she wouldn't tell them about being called '_Clary_'. "He said he was there to kill me. It was someone named Sebastian."

"What did he look like?" asked Alec.

Sky shrugged. "I dunno. I never saw his face."

Her vision shimmered for a second, and her head felt ice cold in the front. She put her palm to her forehead.

"Leave her alone, Alec," said Jace. "The effects aren't fully gone."

She blinked rapidly. For some reason, her eyes felt ice cold, too.

"Come on," said Isabelle. "We should order dinner," she took Alec out of the room, and the infirmary doors closed.

"Are you alright?" asked Jace.

She took her hand off her face, and nodded, then looked at him. "Who's Sebastian?"

Jace got a hard look on his face. "He was better known as Jonathan Morgenstern."

Skylar's eyes widened. "You think I dreamt about..." she trailed off, thinking about what he'd called her. Clary's brother called her _Clarissa_... Why? "Where is he now?"

"Dead," Jace said. "Clary killed him."

Skylar's eyes widened. _You killed me Clarissa_, he'd said. How could she have possibly _known_ that?

Her head started pounding, and it was ice cold again. She rested her head in her hands, and groaned.

"You should rest more," said Jace.

Skylar nodded, and made her way back to her pillow, lying on her left, and looking at Jace. "Can you stay?" She was a little surprised those words came out of her mouth, but didn't regret them. She wanted him to stay.

Jace smiled ever so slightly. "Sure. If you want me to."

* * *

"_This is Magnus. I'm not here right now. Leave me a message!_"

Alec sighed. It had gone to voicemail again. "Magnus, I'm starting to get worried. Call me," he hung up, and sighed again.

"Voicemail _again_?" asked Isabelle.

Alec nodded. "I'm starting to get worried. If I called that many times, why wouldn't he answer?"

Isabelle shrugged. "Maybe his phone died."

Alec pressed his lips together. "It rang, so his phone isn't dead."

Isabelle pursed her lips. "Hm..."

Alec phone buzzed, and he looked at it. He'd just gotten a text from Magnus.

_In a movie, text you later._

Alec frowned. Magnus had only been texting him lately. He hadn't heard his voice since the day he saw Edwin Tron at the Ravenwalkers'.

"Is it Magnus?" asked Isabelle.

"Yeah," said Alec.

She raised her eyebrow. "Then why are you making that face?"

Alec shook his head. Maybe Magnus needed space after the whole Edwin Tron thing?

"Do you think he's gonna break up with you again?" asked Isabelle.

Alec looked up sharply.

Isabelle was on her phone now, texting. She snapped her phone shut. "Oops."

Alec frowned. "What?"

Isabelle shook her head. "I accidentally said '_do you want me to feed _Church_ while you're gone_'."

Isabelle's phone made a noise, and she furrowed her brows.

"What now?" Alec wasn't particularly interested.

"He didn't notice," Isabelle shrugged. "His grammar is a little... proper, don't you think?"

Alec furrowed his brows. "Huh?"

Isabelle glanced at him. "He's not using text-language. You know, like LOL, or GTG? He's using proper english. Not very Magnus, is it?"

Alec shrugged. "It's probably nothing, Isabelle."

Isabelle snapped her phone shut. "You're probably right. I'm just a little suspicious, I guess."

"From earlier?"

Isabelle shrugged. "I guess."

The doorbell rang.

"Probably the food. I'll get it," said Isabelle, and left the room.

* * *

Skylar woke up to the sound of vibrating. She opened her eyes, and gasped. Jace's face was inches from her's, and he was fast asleep.

She sat up, and blushed as the buzzing continued. Jace had fallen asleep in the infirmary bed beside her. She pressed her lips together.

The phone continued to buzz, and Jace didn't stir. Sky took the phone off the nightstand, and answered it. "Hello?"

"... _Skylar_?" said Alec's voice.

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Um... Dinner's here," he sounded confused.

"Alright. We'll be over in a minute."

"Okay," Alec hung up.

Sky looked at the phone screen, and pursed her lips.

"Who was it?" asked Jace.

Sky jumped, and looked down at him. He looked cute like this- messy hair, and tired eyes. She shook the thought from her head, and handed him the phone. "Alec says dinner's here."

Jace took his phone, and sat up. "Good," he neatened his hair with his fingers. "Are you hungry?"

Sky shrugged. She was curious as to why he'd been on her bed out of all the rest, but decided to drop the subject.

"Well, I'm starving," Jace stood up, and stretched.

Skylar stared at him, but tried not to.

He seemed to notice her looking, and his mouth curled up at the corner.

Sky looked away quickly, blushing again.

"Come on."

* * *

"We should go to Pandemonium tonight," said Isabelle, looking at her phone. "Recreationally."

"Sounds fun," said Skylar, eating a piece of chicken with her chopsticks.

"Are you sure you're well enough for that?" said Alec, raising an eyebrow. Sky hated how everyone but her could do that.

"I'm fine," she said. "Really, I slept it off."

Alec's phone went off, and he looked at it. "Magnus can't come," he said, sounding disappointed.

Skylar flashed to the underground room for a split second, but blinked it away.

"_Simon_ can," said Isabelle, smiling.

Sky actually wanted to see Simon. She'd missed him. She frowned at her own thoughts. She'd only met Simon a couple times, though she did vent all her problems to him... He would make a good friend, she decided.

"Then it's settled," said Jace, looking at Sky. "It's a date."

Sky blushed, and looked down.

Isabelle seemed to notice, and raised her eyebrow. "Alright..." she said. "But Skylar has to let me choose her outfit."

Sky let out an exasperated sigh, and everyone chuckled.

* * *

"I can't pull this off," Said Skylar, tugging the end of her too short dress.

"Nonsense," said Isabelle, waving her away. "You look great."

The dress Isabelle made Skylar wear was tight, white, and strapless, with a white lace dress over it with flared sleeves. Her hair was left plain, and down, and she had white, knee-high boots to top it off.

"So, I meant to ask you..."

Skylar tugged the end of her dress again, looking in the full length mirror.

"What's up with the looks between you and Jace?"

Sky's eyes widened, and she bit her tongue. "What looks?" she asked with a squeak.

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. I'm not _blind_. I thought Jace was dating your sister."

Sky swallowed, not looking away from the mirror. "Actually... Brooke broke up with Jace."

Isabelle looked taken aback. "Oh."

Sky pressed her lips together, and looked at the floor.

"... Okay," Isabelle dropped the subject.

* * *

Skylar pretended to not notice Jace staring at her as she hung on to the poll of the train. She tried to concentrate on the mundanes, and what they were doing. One was reading, another was on his laptop, and one was listening to music with her eyes closed, though she obviously wasn't asleep.

Sky stared at her curiously. She looked familiar...

"Hey," Skylar was brought back to her own group when Jace stood up, and took hold of the same pole as her.

"Hi," she said.

A smile played at the corner of Jace's lips. "You look lovely, by the way."

Skylar smiled, and blushed.

Jace chuckled. "I noticed you blush every time I compliment you. Why is that?"

Sky's blush darkened, and she looked down.

Jace chuckled again. "You're in love with me," he said quietly. It was a combination of him knowing, and being Jace.

She looked up at him. Their gaze held for several seconds before Alec cleared his throat. They both looked at him.

"This upcoming stop is ours," he said awkwardly.

Sky nodded. "Thanks," she looked away from him, back at the mundanes. The one who was listening to music had taken out her headphones, and was now staring at her with wide eyes. She looked so familiar to Skylar, but her gaze was making her uncomfortable.

The train suddenly jerked to a stop, causing Skylar to lose her grip on the poll, and fall, and roll down the car. A few other people had fallen, too, and everyone was talking, alarmed. Then the lights went out.

Sky didn't have her witchlight on her, or a night vision rune, so she couldn't see anything. She stood up, but still couldn't see, and everyone was making a commotion. "Jace?" she called. "Isabelle? Alec!"

She felt someone grab her arm. "Here," they said. She felt a rune being drawn on her arm, and gasped. She could suddenly see, and knew someone had drawn on the night vision rune.

"Thanks," she said, and was surprised to see the mundane who'd been listening to music, and staring at her standing before her with a stele in hand. She was looking at her curiously. "... I thought you were a mundane."

The woman's expression changed into something else- sad, mostly, but lots of other emotions, too. "... Who are you?"

"Skylar. Skylar Ravenwalker," she offered her hand.

The woman looked at it, and swallowed.

Sky took her hand back.

"Jocelyn Garroway," said the woman, then began to stare again.

Sky cleared her throat uncomfortably.

The woman blinked away whatever thoughts were in her head. "Pardon my staring, you just..." she swallowed. "You look a lot like someone I used to know."

Sky furrowed her brows. "Who?" She had a feeling she already knew the answer to her question.

The woman opened her mouth to speak, but then Jace came up. "Skylar, there you are," he obviously had the night vision rune on, too.

Jace and the woman looked at each other, and their eyes widened.

"Jace," said the woman, looking surprised.

"Jocelyn, how nice to see you again," Jace swallowed. Skylar wondered how they knew each other.

"... I haven't seen you since the funeral," she seemed to choke on the last word. _Funeral_... She must have been related to Clary Fray. Sky didn't know how she hadn't seen the resemblance before. It was uncanny.

"Are you related to her?" Sky asked before she could stop herself. "Clary Fray, I mean."

The woman looked at her with pained eyes, then cleared her throat. "Yes... It was nice to meet you...?"

"Skylar," she said.

The woman- Jocelyn nodded, then walked away.

"Who was that?" she asked Jace.

Jace swallowed. "That was Clary's mother."

* * *

**Pretty boring chapter, I know, but the next one will be better, promise (though it's still unwritten). I'm working on it.**

**Thanks so much for the reviews! They really make he happy, and I'm glad you guys like the story so much :D**

**I'm also about to update 'If Valentine were Good', so if you read that... this is gonna be a big chapter**


	19. Chapter 19

**Started writing this chapter this morning, and I literally ****_just _****finished. Enjoy!**

* * *

They walked into Pandemonium, and were greeted by loud music that Sky could feel through her shoes.

"Simon!" said Isabelle, rushing forward to greet her boyfriend. They shared a lingering kiss that made Skylar smile for some reason. "Hey."

"Hi," said Simon, smiling at Isabelle. He glanced at Skylar, and she gave a little wave.

Isabelle took hold of Simon's hand. "Let's dance."

Before Simon could say any more, Isabelle yanked him through the crowd.

Sky laughed. "Those two are cute together."

Jace looked at her, and raised an eyebrow.

Sky looked at him, and smiled. "Do _you_ want to dance?"

The corner of Jace's mouth curled up into a smile, and her took Sky's offered hand.

"And you, Alec?" Sky looked at him. "Care to dance with us?"

Alec shook his head. "No thanks. I'm gonna be at the bar," he nodded at them, and left.

"Poor Alec," said Skylar as she and Jace walked over to the dancefloor. "I wonder why Magnus didn't come," she felt something in her head- almost breaking free, like it was hidden behind a layer of latex, and stretching it to the limit.

They got to the dancefloor, and started dancing.

* * *

Sky and Jace had been dancing for a while now. They were both sweaty, and breathless. The black light made Sky's white dress glow, she noticed, and the other lights turned her dress pink, green, and blue. She loved Pandemonium.

Sky felt her phone buzz in her boot, and pulled it out to check it. It was a text from Brooke.

_We need to talk alone. It's important. I'm in the storage closet. Don't tell._

Sky's eyes widened. Brooke was _here_?

"Who is it?" asked Jace.

"Um," Sky put her phone back in her boot. "I'll be right back. Wait for me at the bar, okay?" before Jace could respond, Sky walked into the crowd, and headed for the storage closet.

She got there, and opened the door. A hand came out, and grabbed her by the wrist, yanking her in. She made a sound of surprise.

Brooke pulled the door closed behind her. "Thanks for coming."

Sky noticed it wasn't just Brooke, but Adrian was leaning against the back wall, and standing in the middle was-

"_Magnus_?!" Sky's eyes looked him up and down. He looked awful. "What happened to you?!"

Magnus scoffed humorlessly. "I see you forgot."

A flash of the underground room came to Sky's mind. She saw the figure turn towards her, and saw Magnus' face. "... I don't..."

The corner of Magnus' mouth twitched. "There it is. Remember what happened?"

A few more images came to her mind, and she swallowed.

"You were right," said Brooke, staring at Sky, but talking to Magnus.

"What's going on?" said Sky.

"We found Magnus under Thymeless," said Adrian. "We got him out, and he told us everything," he didn't look particularly happy- more angry.

Sky saw another flash- one of the fireplace. "... Thyme."

Brooke nodded. "Edwin fooled us all."

"He's probably looking for me as we speak," said Magnus.

"... Wait, who's been texting Alec then?" asked Sky.

Magnus looked at her sharply. "_Excuse_ me?"

"Well, if you aren't texting Alec, who is?"

Magnus got a dark look in his cat eyes. "Someone who is gonna die by my hand."

Sky couldn't help but find this a little humorous.

"_So_," Magnus changed the subject. "Do you want to hear my theory?"

Skylar's brows furrowed. "... _Theory_?"

Magnus nodded. "I think none of you are who you think you are. You see, Thyme is specifically talented in the art of memory manipulation..."

"So..." said Sky. "You think Thyme has toyed with our _memories_?"

Magnus shook his head. "Not just that, my dear. I believe Thyme has altered each of your minds."

Adrian and Brooke looked unaffected, like they'd already heard this.

Sky frowned. "... What do you mean '_altered_'?"

Magnus crossed his arms over his chest. "I believe he erased all of your memories, and planted new ones."

Sky's eyes widened at this. "Wait... Would that mean our whole lives are fake?" she scoffed. "That's a little _extreme_, isn't it?"

Magnus gave her a look. "You believe me. I can see it in your eyes."

Sky shook her head. "No, I don't. That's ridiculous! That would mean that-" Magnus cut her off.

"You all have blocks in your minds, you don't look anything alike, you get strange dreams, and know things you shouldn't, you have similarities to certain _deceased_ individuals..." he looked straight into Skylar's eyes. "You're drawn to people you shouldn't be drawn to..."

Sky swallowed. "I don't believe it," but she _did_. She believed it, and that was the problem.

"I know this is a lot to take in," said Brooke.

Skylar scoffed, taking a step back. "I don't believe it."

"Yes you do," said Magnus. "And you know who you really are, too."

Sky shook her head. "No."

Magnus nodded. "Yes. You know who you are, you're just denying it."

"It isn't possible!" she snapped.

"Sky-" Brooke was interrupted by Magnus.

"A good way to test it is to ask small questions," he said. "For example, what was your first word as a baby?"

Sky opened her mouth, and closed it. She didn't know.

"How old were you when you learned how to swim? Who taught you? What was your favorite color when you were seven?"

Sky took another step back. "Stop it."

"What was your favorite movie when you were young? Did anything _significant_ ever happen if your life?"

Sky took another step back. "_Stop it_."

"And your memories," Magnus went on. "I bet from the point you were sixteen, and on, you figured out a lot about yourself, right?"

Sky shook her head, still in denial.

"The memories of your childhood are vague, and feel almost thin- as if it were all a dream-"

"STOP IT!" Sky exploded. She spun around, and fled the room. She pushed through the crowd of people, tears streaming down her face.

She believed it, that was the problem. All Magnus' questions were relevant. And her memories... They didn't make sense. They _did_ feel thin, exactly how he'd described it. That meant, if he was right, that her entire life was a lie.

The shoved through the last of the people, and ran out the front door, then continued running. She didn't want to be anywhere near Pandemonium anymore. She needed to get as far away from the truth as possible.

* * *

Brooke tried to run after Sky, but Magnus caught her arm. "Don't," he said. "You can't go after her."

"I _told_ you we should've been more careful!" she snapped. "You shouldn't have told her like that!"

Suddenly the door bust open, and in came a couple, making out.

"Hey!" said Magnus. "Taken!"

The couple stopped kissing, and looked at them. It was a vampire, and-

"Isabelle?"

Isabelle was looking at Magnus. "... Magnus? What..."

Magnus looked slightly pissed. "Nice to see you, too, _Isabelle_," he said flatly.

She looked him up and down. "What _happened_ to you?"

Magnus rolled his eyes. "I was kidnapped by an evil warlock, and _no one noticed_!"

Isabelle frowned. "What?"

The vampire who she was with was looking at Brooke and Adrian.

"Oh yeah," said Magnus. "Who the hell had been texting _my_ boyfriend?! I'm going to _kill_ them!"

Isabelle blinked. "I knew it."

"Okay," said Brooke. "We're going to tell you the whole story..."

* * *

Sky wasn't sure where she was, or how she ended up there, but she was now in front of an apartment building, crumpled on the sidewalk.

She was going through the memories of her childhood in her mind. They all seemed thin, and vague, like Magnus said. Nothing significant ever really happened. Even the way she felt about Adrian always felt off. She never loved Adrian as much as she loved Jace.

_Jace_. She had a feeling she knew who she really was, but she didn't want to believe it. Clary Fray had died, killed in Jace's arms, as she'd heard.

Another flash came to her mind, and she saw Jace, leaning over her. _"Why isn't it working?"_

She tried to shake it out of her head. "No," she whispered. "No. This isn't real."

"Excuse me?" said a voice. "Are you okay?"

Sky looked up to see a girl looking at her, and the girl's eyes widened.

"_Clary_?!"

"Um... No," she wasn't even sure. _Could_ she be Clary? "My name's Sky," _was it_?

"Oh," said the girl. "Of course. I'm so sorry. Simon had told me about you."

Sky sniffed. "You know Simon?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm one of his roommates."

Sky used the back of her hand to wipe some of the tears from her eyes. "Is that where I am?"

The girl frowned, but nodded. She offered her hand.

Sky took it, and she helped her stand up.

"I'm Maia, by the way."

Sky smiled slightly. "Hi."

"... Do you want to come in? You look like you could use some tea, or something."

Sky smiled. "Sure. Thanks."

* * *

Isabelle blinked. "... But that means... That can't-"

"Are you saying that Clary is _alive_?!" said Simon.

"There isn't proof yet," said Magnus. "So don't tell anyone."

Simon gaped at him.

Brooke swallowed. She wondered who she was if Skylar _was_ Clary. When her and Adrian first heard, it was hard for her to take in. Adrian rejected it immediately, but Brooke crumpled to the ground, knowing it was true.

She didn't even know her real name.

"... My g-" Simon seemed to gag for a second. Brooke frowned.

"So you're saying Clary isn't dead, and she's Skylar, but thinks she isn't Clary?" said Isabelle, trying to put the pieces together.

"_Especially_ don't tell Jace," said Brooke. "He'd be very upset, and if we're wrong..."

Isabelle's gaze turned to Magnus. "We need to tell Alec."

Magnus nodded. "Go get him. Just you. Don't tell him why, just get him here, got it?"

Isabelle nodded, and left the storage closet.

"Shouldn't we go after Clary now then?" said Simon.

"She's still Skylar," said Adrian. "She isn't Clary right now- if ever."

Simon swallowed, and nodded. "I think she is, though. She came to talk to me a while back about her problems with you and Jace," he gestured to Brooke. "She had only met me once, and she immediately trusted me. And she was immediately drawn to Jace, she told me."

Brooke's eyebrows furrowed. If She'd only met Simon once, that meant it was close to when she first met Jace. She'd loved him since the beginning, hadn't she? Brooke swallowed, and bit her tongue.

The storage closet's door opened, and in came Alec and Isabelle.

Alec's eyes went wide. "_Magnus_?!"

* * *

Maia set a mug of steaming tea in front of Skylar. "Thanks," she said, taking the mug, and taking a sip.

Maia nodded, and sat down next to her on the couch. "So... If you didn't know Simon lived here, why did you come?"

Sky bit her bottom lip, thinking of what Magnus had said._ You know things you shouldn't..._

"Long story, she mumbled, and took a large gulp of the tea, burning her tongue and throat.

"I'll listen if you want," said Maia. "Sometimes it feels good to talk about things."

Skylar sighed. "Well... It's kind of-"

Her words were interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

"I'll get it," said Maia, standing up.

Sky sighed, and set her tea back on the coffee table.

Maia opened the front door, and screamed.

Skylar stood up abruptly, and saw Maia fall to the ground, screaming, and holding her face. Edwin tron walked through the front door, a menacing grin on his face.

Sky gasped, and started backing away.

"I guess you know now," said Edwin- no, not Edwin. _William Thyme_. Edwin Tron didn't exist. "That warlock came to you first, right?" he looked like a stranger. She saw flashes of this grin in her mind. She'd seen this in the underground room under Thymeless. He'd erased it from her mind.

Sky took a dagger from her boot, and held it out in front of her as she backed away.

Thyme laughed. "Do you _really_ think that's going to stop me, _Skylar_?"

Sky took in a shaky breath. She was scared, but tried to push the fear down. "That isn't my name," she said. "What is it?"

Thyme laughed again, walking closer as she backed away. "If you've talked to Bane, than you already know the answer, _Clarissa_."

Sky locked her jaw. "That isn't possible. Clary Fray died years ago."

"The very same year you were brought into the Ravenwalker family," Thyme smirked.

Sky stopped backing up. Anger began to fuel her. She threw the dagger at his chest.

He put up his hand, and the dagger stopped two feet away from his chest. He laughed, and the dagger clattered to the ground.

Maia's screams had died down, and Sky wondered if she'd fainted.

"You think one little knife can stop me?" he sounded amused. He put up his hand, and Sky felt her feet leave the ground, and she was thrown against the wall. She couldn't move.

Thyme came up to her, and wrapped his hand around her neck. "You're a real troublesome brat, you know that?" he spat. "You keep overcoming the memory charms I put on you, and it's frustrating to having to keep fixing them!"

Sky was having a hard time breathing as his hand tightened around her neck. She tried to say something, but she couldn't form the words. She struggled against the invisible pressure.

"Now I'm just going to have to do it all over again. It's too risky to leave you here. I'll have to rewrite you again."

Sky gasped. "N... no," she managed.

Suddenly, a knife came out of the right side of his chest. He released Sky, and she fell to the ground, coughing.

Thyme fell to the ground, groaning. Maia stood over him, her face bloody- as if someone had thrown silver powder at it. That's probably what Thyme did. Maia had a bloody kitchen knife in hand.

Thyme choked out some blood.

"Should I kill him?" asked Maia. Her voice sounded rough.

Sky nodded, getting her breath back.

Maia plunged the knife into his heart, and he cried out in pain.

Sky felt a surge in her head that felt like a knife went through her brain. She clutched her head, screamed, and everything went black.

* * *

"I'm so glad you're alright," said Alec, smiling at his boyfriend. They kissed.

Brooke smiled. They were a cute couple, she decided.

Out of no where, a surge of pain ran through her head, and she felt like a knife went through her head. She gripped her head, and bent over, then cried out in pain. She heard Adrian cry out, too.

"Brooke!" she wasn't sure who had said her name, but it didn't matter since she blacked out.

* * *

**I promised it would be exiting, didn't I? I hope you liked it!**

**Tell me what you think will happen next. I'd love to hear theories ;)**

**My twitter username: WisterianPrince**


	20. Chapter 20

The morning's sunlight came through the windows, and lit up the room. Jace sat on the infirmary bed next to Skylar. She looked peaceful like this, with her eyes closed gently, and her lips parted.

Last night, they'd all been at Pandemonium. Isabelle had come up to Alec next to Jace at the bar, and pulled him aside. Jace followed them, and hovered outside the closet door until he heard a scream. He then burst into the very crowded closet.

Magnus refused to tell him what had happened to him, and everyone obviously knew something, but weren't telling him.

They brought Adrian and Brooke to the Institute after they mysteriously fainted simultaneously. Maia called Simon a few minutes later saying something about a warlock, and Sky fainting.

Brooke, and Adrian were on the beds to Sky's left, and were surrounded by Magnus, Isabelle, and Alec, and they were all whispering among themselves. Jace was suspicious of their behavior, but decided it didn't matter as much as Sky.

Suddenly, Brooke sat bold upright, and screamed.

Jace- along with everyone else- jumped.

Brooke's hands went over her mouth, and she choked out a sob.

Isabelle went over to her, and sat on the bed next to her. "Brooke?"

Brooke began sobbing, and Isabelle wrapped her arms around her, saying something to her Jace couldn't hear.

Brooke began saying something, but it was unintelligible.

"What?" said Isabelle.

"T- they killed them," Brooke managed. "They killed them," she melted back into her sobs.

"Who killed who?" asked Magnus, questioning her rather than sympathizing.

It took Brooke a few more seconds before she could talk again. "My family. They _murdered_ them right in front of me."

"No," said Isabelle. "Sky's right over there, see?" Isabelle looked at Jace with a look that said '_help_'.

Jace stood up, and sat next to Brooke. He put his hand on her back. "They're fine," said Jace. "We've been here the whole time. Nothing's happened to them."

"... N- no," Brooke managed again. "Not them. My parents," she sniffed, her head still in Isabelle's shoulder. "I don't know who that is."

Jace frowned. "What?"

Brooke sniffed again, and took her head away from Isabelle's shoulder. She had makeup-filled tears streaked all down her face. "... I don't know who any of them are," she took a shaky breath, clearly trying to to cry again. "Skylar, she... I only met her a few years ago."

Jace's eyes went wide. "_What_?"

Brooke's eyes seemed to fix on something behind him, and she muttered something.

"What?" said Isabelle.

Brooke got off her bed, and ran to the next one that held Adrian. She sat next to him, and touched his face lightly.

Jace looked at her, confused. "She's lost her mind," Jace muttered.

"No she hasn't," said Magnus. "She just got it back."

Jace frowned, and looked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"... He was so brave," said Brooke, her voice still shaky. "He tried to save me, even though he was small."

"What?" said Alec.

Brooke used the edge of her sleeve to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"What's your real name?" asked Magnus gently.

Jace looked at him.

Brooke looked at him, too, and smiled. "Mckenzie. Mckenzie Silverwood."

* * *

Mckenzie/Brooke stared at Miles/Adrian, still asleep. Magnus had explained to Jace that the her supposed '_family_ _warlock_', Edwin Tron, wasn't who he said he was. He'd erased all their memories, and rewrote their minds.

"None of the Ravenwalkers really know each other," Mckenzie had explained. "Miles- or Adrian- and I had been with them since I was twelve, and Miles was eleven. We started out as adopted siblings. A couple years later, Thea came along, and I suddenly thought she'd been there the whole time. Thea is actually Miles' real life sister, Lydia. Next came Aaron.

"Then, when I was seventeen, I gained a new sister: Skylar. She was suddenly my _parabatai_, and my best friend, and Miles and Lydia were suddenly our next door neighbors. They had a widowed mother who was usually in Idris. Veronica.

"When Sky had come, she thought she'd been in love with Mil- Adrian, and dating him for a year. That wasn't true- not necessarily. That's just what she thought. None of our memories were real..."

It was a lot for Mckenzie to take in when she'd first woken up, even previously knowing the truth. It had been a few hours now, and she'd had time to absorb what had happened.

Jace hadn't, however. He had been standing by Skylar's bed for the past few hours, probably wondering who she really was. No one had told him the truth yet, but he was probably wondering.

"Are you wondering if she's Clary?" asked Brooke.

Jace looked over at her, then looked away. "No. She can't be Clary. Clary's dead- died in my arms," he swallowed.

Mckenzie bit her bottom lip.

It felt almost as if everything had been the same. She was still in the same body, and still cared deeply for Miles and Skylar (whoever she was). She felt the same- sort of. She felt sad now, and a little scared, but she was the same person, and she could still take comfort in the feeling she got through her _parabatai_ connection that Sky was safe, and close.

Miles' breathing changed, and Mckenzie looked down at him. His eyes opened slowly, and his eyelashes fluttered slightly. A smile Broke across Mckenzie's face. "Miles," she whispered, tears coming to her eyes.

Miles looked at her. "... Mckenzie..." his voice was quiet, but he sounded happy, and relieved.

A tear drop rolled down Mckenzie's face, and she giggled.

Miles reached up, and wiped it away. "... You're okay," he said.

She nodded. "I thought I'd lost you, there," she said.

The corner of Miles' mouth curled up slightly. "Those demons can't get rid of me that easily."

Mckenzie laughed.

Miles put his hand on the back of her neck, and her heart sped up. He slowly pulled her down to him, and their lips met.

There was no one else in the infirmary now, it was only them, or, that's what it felt like. Mckenzie was pretty sure Jace and Sky were still there, but didn't really care.

This was their first kiss. She'd wanted to kiss him for so long- not just as Brooke, who was her, but also because she'd fallen in love with him. _Him_, no matter who she was, or who he thought he was, she loved _him_.

Their lips parted just an inch.

"I've wanted to do that for a very long time," Miles murmured.

Mckenzie smiled, and kissed him again.

The one thing she couldn't figure out, though, was why she had brown hair.

* * *

Jace watched Brooke kiss Adrian, and chuckled. It was good that they were together, Jace thought. They'd both been with the wrong people, and now everything was right.

Jace looked back at Skylar, sleeping, and wondered if she would still love him when she woke up. Would she still be the same person? Would she have a different boyfriend somewhere else? Seeing how beautiful she was, he guessed yes.

He sighed, and sat down next to her again.

"Adrian! Thank _Raziel_!"

Jace looked at the entrance of the infirmary, and saw a woman with milk chocolate-colored skin, and a thick black braid standing there. She walked over to him, and smiled. "... Did you guys... you know... get your memories back?" she asked.

Brooke nodded, and Adrian sat up.

"I know I'm not really your mother," she said. "But I had to make sure you were okay."

"Is Lydia okay?" Adrian asked.

The woman nodded. "Yes, she's fine. What are your real names?"

Brooke smiled. "I'm Mckenzie."

"Mckenzie. It suits you."

Brooke- _Mckenzie_ smiled.

"My name is Miles," said Miles/Adrian.

"That suits you, too," she turned around, and saw Jace and Skylar. "You must be Jace," she smiled. "Hello."

"Nice to meet you," Jace nodded at her.

There was something different about her gray eyes. Adrian and Thea both had the same eyes, but they were somehow different. "How's Skylar?" she asked, walking closer and looking at her. "Do you know who she really is yet?"

Jace noticed Brooke and Adrian exchange a look before answering. This made Jace frown.

"No," said Brooke. "Not yet."

They _did_ know, didn't they? Why weren't they telling him?

Veronica's eyes were still on Sky as she nodded. "I hope she's alright."

Jace looked at her. "Why wouldn't she be?"

Veronica's gaze never shifted from Sky, she just shrugged. "She was always... different. I had the sense she had a darkness in her..." she trailed off, and Jace frowned. So did Adrian and Brooke.

"_Darkness_?" Brooke questioned.

"It's nothing," Veronica mumbled. "Nevermind."

Someone's phone started ringing- Adrian's. He answered it. "Hello?... Yes, I did..." Adrian frowned. "She's what?... But that's... that... do you know her real name?"

Veronica turned to look at him, and Brooke was watching him, frowning.

Adrian looked at Veronica. "... I have to go," he hung up.

"What's wrong?" asked Brooke.

Adrian was staring at Veronica suspiciously. "... How did you know my sister's name?"

Veronica blinked. "What?"

"How did you know her name was Lydia?" he stood up. "She's still asleep."

Veronica's smile dropped, and her face transformed into an angry look. It made her look older than she was. "I suppose I could've handled that better."

Jace looked back and forth between Adrian and Veronica, suddenly understanding.

"... Who are you?" said Adrian. Brooke was still sitting down, looking between Adrian and Veronica, still confused.

The corner of Veronica's lips twitched, and she pulled a red vial out of her coat. "I'm William's employer."

Jace tried to jump up to stop her, but she threw the vial down, and everyone was engulfed in a cloud of red smoke. Jace fell to the ground, coughing, and unable to get back up.

"I don't need the rest of you anymore," said Veronica's voice. "I only need _her_," Jace knew who she meant, but before anything could be done, he blacked out.

* * *

"... That's actually kinda sweet," said Simon over the phone.

"Yeah," Isabelle agreed. "All this time, they've been secretly having feelings for each other, and now..."

Simon chuckled. "So, has '_Skylar_' woken up yet?"

Isabelle shook her head as she answered. "No."

"Hm. Do you think she's Clary?"

Isabelle bit her bottom lip. "I really don't know, Simon. I mean, she could be, but I don't see..." Isabelle trailed off as she stepped into the Infirmary, and saw it covered in a thin layer of red dust. "Simon, can I call you back?"

"Sure," he said. "I love you."

"I love you, too," then Isabelle hung up, and cautiously entered the room. "Guys?" no answer.

She walked cautiously into the room, and found Brooke in a bed, Adrian and Jace on the floor, and no Sky. She knelt down beside Jace, and shook his shoulder. "Jace. Jace, wake up!"

Jace stirred, and coughed a little.

"What happened?"

Jace sat up, and looked at one of the Infirmary beds. "She took her," he said, suddenly standing up urgently.

Isabelle stood up, too. "Who took who? Sky?" she looked around the room.

"That woman took her," Jace looked angry, and stormed out of the room.

* * *

Clary opened her eyes, and saw a cement, pipelined ceiling. She let out a small cough, and put her head upright. She frowned down at herself when she realized she was tied to a chair, and covered in a thin layer of red dust.

"Hello?" she called through room. "Is anyone there?" no answer. "Jace?" still no answer. "Look, if this is some kind of joke-"

"It's not," said a familiar voice. Clary swallowed as Adrian's mother, Veronica, walked into the room, but it wasn't Adrian's mother. Clary knew this voice. This was the voice commanding Thyme just before she got her memories erased. "Hello, Clarissa. I see you've finally woken up."

Clary gritted her teeth. "Who are you?"

The corner of her lip turned up. "My name is Hana. I do believe I'm the last of the Circle."

Clary's eyes widened, and she swallowed. "What have you done with Maia?"

Hana raised an eyebrow. "Who's Maia?"

"The _werewolf_!" Clary spat.

Hana chuckled. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I pulled you from the Institute, from right in front of that boy that's so _infatuated_ with you."

Clary swallowed. "What did you do to him?"

Hana smiled. She'd found Clary's weakness. "Nothing, really. It was just a sleeping potion, but it did it's job."

Clary breathed a sigh of relief.

Hana pulled up another chair, and sat down five feet from Clary. "Aren't you curious as to why you fainted?"

She was, but said nothing.

Hana smiled. "Thyme was a very skilled, and loyal warlock. He hid me among the rest of you so no one could find me, and it worked. I posed as Adrian and Thea's mother."

"A lousy one," Clary tried to insult her. "You were never around!"

Hana chuckled. "That's because I didn't want children, not really. I couldn't figure out why I'd had them in the first place."

Clary's jaw hardened as she thought of Adrian and Thea always speaking fondly of their mother, who was rarely around.

"Anyway, Thyme planted a special trigger," she continued. "If he died, all of his people with the spells would go unconscious for certain amounts of time. I was programmed to wake up first so I could get any of you if I needed. The spell would also wear off," she smiled. "William was an excellent employee. It's a shame you found it necessary to kill him."

Clary just looked at her.

"Just as you found it necessary to kill your father and brother."

"_I_ didn't kill Valentine. The Angel Raziel did because he was damned."

Hana barked out a laugh, and Clary jumped. "Do you really expect me to _believe_ that? And you believe that Jace was _revived_? You have a wild imagination, Clarissa, I'll give you that."

Clary just looked at her again. "Why am I here?"

"Ah," Hana stood up. "You see... I need some of those runes you see. They'd be very helpful to me."

Clary raised her eyebrow. "And if I don't?"

A menacing smile crept across Hana's face. She pulled out a vial from her inner coat pocket, and Clary recognized it immediately. It was the purple liquid that had made her scream when it came in contact with her skin when she'd first found Magnus. "Now," she said. "Shall we begin?"

* * *

**Merry Christmas Eve!**

**I'm sorry, I don't think this is the best chapter that I've ever written, and I don't think I'll be able to post tomorrow due to being busy :/ so sorry guys!**

**Twitter: WisterianPrince**

**I'm posting the Epilogue for 'If Valentine were Good' tomorrow, so if you read it, enjoy that :)**

**Also, I've got NO idea what's happening next, so could you guys help me?**

**Thanks!**

**Wisterian Princess**


	21. Chapter 21

**Character recap**

**_Brooke Ravenwalker = Mckenzie Silverwood**

**-parents murdered by demons when she was twelve**

**-best friends with Adrian/Miles**

**_Adrian Foxwright = Miles Stormwell**

**-taken by demons when he was at Mckenzie/Brooke's house when he was eleven**

**-best friends with Brooke/Mckenzie**

**-brother to Thea/Lydia**

**_Thea Foxwright = Lydia Stormwell**

**-little sister to Adrian/Miles**

**-taken a few years after her brother was declared missing**

**_Aaron Ravenwalker = UNKNOWN**

**_Skylar 'Sky' Ravenwalker = Clarissa 'Clary' Fray/Fairchild/Morgenstern**

**-abducted by Hana/Veronica for her rune talent**

**_Veronica Foxwright = Hana**

**-William Thyme/Edwin Tron's (evil warlock) employer. She had him erase all their memories, plant new ones, and change their appearances, including her own so she could hide**

**-is the last surviving member of Valentine's Circle, and now works alone, and needs the runes Clary has**

* * *

**Thanks so much for giving me Christmas off, guys! I had a great Christmas, and I thank you all!**

* * *

Clary took in hearty gulps of dusty air. It had only been two days of being trapped here, and she's already gone through so much. Hana had used an array of potions on her, trying to get what she wanted, but Clary didn't break- which, she was honestly surprised by. She guessed Skylar had something to do with this.

The memories of Skylar Ravenwalker were still in Clary's head, so she could still fight, she still cared about everyone, and she was also strong. Sky was strong, and that was what was helping her now.

"This can all be over whenever you want," said Hana. "All you need to do is draw a rune."

Over the last forty-eight hours, Clary had seen all of the runes Hana had asked for in her mind's eye, but refused to give in.

Clary locked her jaw, and glared at Hana now.

Hana chuckled darkly. "You're very stubborn, aren't you? I could make you perfectly comfortable, you know," she smiled a white, toothy smile that made shivers run down Clary's spine. "But I could also make this _far_ worse."

Although Clary felt a pang of fear, she didn't let it show, just kept glaring.

"Fine," said Hana. "Have it your way." Hana went up to the table full of potions, and selected one, then took out a syringe.

Clary winced.

Hana turned to her with the full syringe, and grinned menacingly. "Do you know what this is?"

Clary didn't let her expression change.

"It's impii demon poison. Do you know what that does?"

Clary didn't answer.

"It makes you hallucinate," she grinned. "Live your worst fears, and it last for _hours_." She looked like she was enjoying this as she approached Clary with the syringe full of clear liquid.

Clary let the corner of her lips twitch. "You're bluffing."

A wide grin stretched across Hana's face. "Would you like to _test_ that theory?"

Clary said nothing, but didn't let her see how scared she really was.

"So be it."

* * *

Magnus scoured the map with no luck. "She must have shielded wherever she put her," he said. "Either that, or she's dead."

"She isn't dead," Mckenzie said quickly. "I'd feel it," she touched her parabatai rune absentmindedly.

Miles put his arm around her, and she fell into his embrace.

Jace sat there, staring at the map with no 'X' on it. All this was his fault. He'd let that woman- Veronica take her.

Mckenzie gasped.

"What?" said Miles. "What is it?"

Tears came to her eyes, and began to run down her face. "I tested the connection," she breathed. "She's hurting."

Jace swallowed. "Is there some other way we can find her?" he said in a hard voice.

"I could try questioning demons," Magnus suggested.

"Do what you have to," said Jace, swiftly leaving the room.

He made his way through the Institute, and out the front of the building, taking a deep breath of crisp, early autumn air. He sat down on the steps, and put his face in his hands. He was going to lose Skylar the exact same way he lost Clary. He just hoped the he wouldn't be too late this time.

"Hello, _Jace_," said a cold voice.

Jace looked up and saw Veronica standing right outside the Institute gates, grinning.

"You," Jace growled, standing up.

"I came to offer you an ultimatum," she said.

Jace marched up to the gate and glared down at her. "What's to stop me from _killing_ you right now?" he growled.

Veronica was still grinning. "Because I'm the only one who knows her location."

Jace's fists clenched at his sides. "Then we'll torture it out of you," he spat.

Veronica laughed, throwing her head back. "Don't you see? I'm willing to die for this cause. And if there's no one there to watch over Clarissa..." he glanced at him. "Then the demon poison's going to kill her."

Jace looked at her. "_What_ did you say?"

Veronica's mouth curled up at one side. "The demon poison will finish her off if I'm not there to stop it."

Jace's jaw hardened. "You're lying. Clary's dead."

Realization hit her. "Oh right, that part. Do you know what _fraudulenti_ demon poison does to someone?"

Jace's eyes widened. Fraudulenti demon poison mimicked the symptoms of death. "You're lying," he snapped.

Veronica laughed. "You're blind, you know that? Skylar was always Clarissa," she laughed.

"You're not going to fool me that easily," Jace glared.

"It's only the way she looks, right?" the corner of her mouth pulled up. "When you decide you want to come with me for the sake of saving your lover's life, come to the abandoned apartment across the street. Tell anyone of my visit, and I'll know."

"What makes you think I'm coming with you?"

"The tattoos they all have on their back," she smiled. "They're runes. Cut one, and see," she twisted the ring on her finger, and disappeared.

* * *

Jace sat near the map again as Magnus attempted to track Sky- or was it _Clary_? Jace shoved the thought from his head. That woman knew Clary was his weakness, and she was just trying to lure him out for whatever reason.

Yet, Jace found himself not telling the others of her visit, and thinking over what she said over, and over.

_Do you know what fraudulenti demon poison does to someone?_

Jace watched what he did almost as if someone else had done it. He pulled out his dagger, and walked up behind Mckenzie, then slashed across her right shoulder blade.

Mckenzie gasped, and spun around.

"What the hell is your..." Miles began, but stopped talking once the blonde color began to bleed from Mckenzie's dark brown roots. Her hair swirled into ringlet-like curls, and her eyes turned sage green, then appeared a light dusting of freckled over her nose.

"... Your hair," Miles managed.

Mckenzie looked at her blonde ringlets and gasped. "How did you..." she trailed off, then looked up at Jace. "You got me back to normal."

Jace still felt like he was in shock. The tattoo _was_ a rune. Did that mean Skylar looked different? Could she have red curls and freckles? Jace shoved the thought away again, cursing Veronica.

"... Of course," said Miles, looking at Mckenzie's back.

Mckenzie turned to Miles. "What?"

"The tattoos," said Miles, grabbing Mckenzie;s shoulders. "They aren't tattoos!" he sounded like he'd had a stroke of genius.

Jace didn't listen to what anyone else had said after that, because he was already on his way.

* * *

Mckenzie smiled at her now familiar friend. Miles had just cut his own rune, and was now how she remembered him. His golden-bronze skin turned to an olive-brown, and his eyes turned from gray, to black-brown. "You look like you again," she smiled.

"So do you," he said, kissing her nose lightly, which made her giggle. "I think you look better like this," he murmured.

"Thanks."

"Miles!"

Mckenzie and Miles turned and saw Thea- or Lydia running towards them, Aaron in the doorway.

"Lydia," Lydia crashed into Miles' chest. "Oh my god, we thought you were dead," she breathed.

"Which time?" Miles joked.

"Both," Lydia pulled away, and looked up at his face. "... You have brown eyes again... How?"

"The tattoos," said Mckenzie. "They're actually _runes_."

Lydia looked at Mckenzie, and jumped. "Whoa, Brooke! You're _blonde_!"

Brooke laughed.

Miles smiled, and looked at Mckenzie. "Actually, her name is Mckenzie, Lydia."

Lydia's eyes widened. "_What_? You aren't _dead_?"

Mckenzie shook her head, then looked up at Aaron, who was leaning against the door frame, watching them. He looked like an outsider. "... Aaron?"

He nodded at her, not moving.

Mckenzie walked up to him while Miles and Lydia were talking. "... Are you handling this alright?"

Aaron shook his head. "The last of my family died two years ago. It's just me now."

Mckenzie smiled sadly at him. "It's just me, too."

He looked at her.

"My parents were killed by demons right in front of me when I was twelve. I don't have anyone else," she swallowed.

"... You have Sky, don't you? She's your _parabatai_."

She swallowed again, and nodded. "We know who she really is, I think. Speaking of which, what's your name?"

He smiled ever so slightly. "My name is Ralph."

Mckenzie giggled. "I'm Mckenzie. It's nice to finally meet you."

* * *

Jace woke up slowly. His head hung forwards, and he was... tied to a chair? He struggled a little, but they were _tight_.

"Don't bother," said a voice. He looked up and saw Skylar, tied to a chair just five feet away. She was still in her Pandemonium dress. She was covered in sweat, and had red dust, and purple splotches of her skin, along with a few cuts and bruises. Her makeup was smeared down her face as if she'd cried a lot, and her honey-colored hair was sticking to her sweaty neck, and face slightly. "You just get hurt," she motioned with her hands to make her point. She had handcuffs on, attached to each arm of the chair, and to her bloody wrists, which made the flared white lace sleeves of her dress slightly bloody, too.

"Skylar," he breathed. "You're..."

She looked down at the floor. "I wish you didn't come, Jace," she said sadly. "She couldn't get you, so she made you come to her."

Jace was a little surprised. "She said she was going to kill you-"

"She wouldn't have," she looked back up at his face. "I'm too valuable to her. You're here because she knows I'll do whatever she wants if you're..." she trailed off and bit her lip, tears coming to her eyes.

"... Skylar, what's happening here? Why does she need you?"

Sky looked at the floor again.

"He still calls you Skylar," said a voice from behind Jace. Veronica's voice. "That's cute."

Skylar looked at Veronica as she walked up next to Jace and glared.

"Haven't gotten the chance to tell him who you really are yet?"

"... Do whatever you want to me," Skylar said in a hard voice. "But don't _touch_ him."

"Aw," a sick smile came to her lips. "That's so sweet," she chuckled, then walked up to a table to Jace's right. "Are you ready to draw the runes now? Because if you aren't-"

"Yes," Skylar snapped. "Just give me the damn paper," she said through gritted teeth.

_Draw the runes?_ Jace looked at Skylar, who was avoiding looking at him. "What runes?"

Sky ignored him, but Veronica didn't. "The _special_ runes she sees. I need those," she set an open notebook on Sky's lap, and put a pencil in her hand. Sky drew something, concentrating.

"... What runes?" Jace had an itching suspicion that he tried to shove away again. She wasn't Clary. She _couldn't_ be.

"Done," said Sky.

Veronica took the pencil and notebook from her. "Excellent," she smiled. "What does it do?"

"It makes you fearless," Sky said flatly.

A crooked smile came to Veronica's lips. "Excellent. Then you won't mind if I test it on your boyfriend?"

Sky's face transformed immediately. "No!" she jerked her hands, and began to looked panicked. "Don't!"

Veronica laughed. "So I suppose you want to give me a new rune?"

Sky nodded vigorously. "Yes. Yes, I'm sorry. I'll give you a new one."

Veronica grinned, and set the book back in her lap.

"... Who are you?" Jace asked, asking Skylar.

Sky looked up at him, hurt in her eyes. She looked back down at the paper, and drew something. "Skylar?"

Veronica took the notebook. "... Lovely. I'll give you some time with your boyfriend alone now," she took the notebook underarm. "And one more thing," she pulled out a knife, and walked over to behind Sky. She braced herself.

"No!" Jace shouted, struggling against the binds.

Veronica slashed Sky's back, and she winced.

Jace's eyes went wide as he saw Sky's appearance change. Her honey hair swirled into curls, and the color changed to red, then freckles dotted her skin.

"I'll leave you to it," said Veronica, leaving.

"Hana-" the door slamming cut Skylar off, and she was gone. Jace was now in the room alone with Skylar. No. Not Skylar. _Clary_.

She slowly looked at his face. He guessed his face was in a mask of shock, as he was extremely shocked to see Clary sitting there, alive. Not only that, but Skylar had turned _into_ Clary.

"... Jace..." she said, biting her lower lip. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

**The person who guessed the villain best early on was JessicaFrayne. She thought it was Adrian's father, but she was close. Good guess!**

**What do you think should happen? I'm considering making someone die, but I don't know...**

**Next chapter tomorrow :) it isn't written yet, BTW, so feel free to suggest stuff. Next chapter ****_could _****be the last, I don't know :)**

**Twitter: WisterianPrince**


	22. Chapter 22

**Aaron = Ralph**

**Thea = Lydia**

**Brooke = Mckenzie**

**Adrian = Miles**

**Skylar = Clary**

**Veronica = Hana**

* * *

Lydia watched Miles and Mckenzie talking. She liked them together. It seemed before that they were with the wrong people, and now they were together. Under everything else, they'd loved each other for years. It made Lydia think of herself.

She looked to the other side of the room, where Aaron- _Ralph_ was sitting alone. She stood up, and walked up to him.

"Hey," she said, stopping in front of him.

He glanced up at her. "Hey." he seemed sad, and not himself.

"So you aren't gonna introduce yourself to me?" she tilted her head to the slide slightly. "I've been waiting."

"Sorry," he mumbled, looking down again.

Lydia rolled her eyes, and plopped down next to him. "I'm Lydia," she offered her hand. "What's your name?"

He looked at her, and a small smile played on his lips. He took her offered hand. "I'm Ralph," he kissed her hand briefly, which surprised her. He released her hand, and looked back down.

"Nope," Lydia scolded. "You have to look at me now. We're friends."

Ralph looked at her, and smiled slightly. He sat up properly, and turned his body toward her. "We're _friends_," he repeated, smiling slightly. "Would a friend have kissed you the way I did?"

Lydia wasn't really the type to blush often, but she felt like it would be a good time to. The corner of her thin lips turned up. "Are you saying you want to be _more_ than friends?" she said playfully.

Ralph looked at her meaningfully. "Maybe I am."

At this, Lydia's heart sped up. Did he _really_ say that, or was Lydia in another one of her fantasies? "I'm six years younger," Lydia said in a playful tone, not meaning anything by it.

He shook his head slightly. "I don't care."

"There are people watching," she smiled. She was pretty sure there was a fantasy that was exactly like this one, where they kissed on a beach at sunset, but in her fantasies, her heart didn't beat faster, and she felt no butterflies in her stomach. This was different.

A smile came to him, too. It suited him. "I still don't care."

"... Do you care that it's technically _illegal_?"

A grin stretched across his face. This was the Aaron/Ralph that Lydia had fallen for on her own, not from Thyme's memories. He'd never intended them to be together. "It's only illegal if we sleep together."

Finally, an intense blush came to Lydia's face.

Ralph laughed. "Well, Lydia, what do you say?"

Lydia's blush darkened, and he laughed again.

"Not to that part," he laughed. "To this," he came forward, and kissed her full on the lips.

Since their last date, Lydia had been embarrassed that she didn't know how to kiss, so she'd googled it. She'd seen at least a dozen videos on YouTube now, and felt she was an expert.

She closed her eyes, and kissed him back. She could feel other eyes on them, but she ignored the sensation. She put her unusually short fingers into his blonde hair, and tilted her head to the side slightly to made their kiss deeper. She felt his hand go to her hip, and blushed, but didn't let that move her off her game.

She moved her hand closer to the side of his face, and tugged his ear slightly. His lips parted from hers, and he exhaled a breath that smelled like mouthwash.

"You've gotten better," he breathed.

Lydia couldn't help but smile at this. "I know." She came forward, and kissed him again.

* * *

"Hey, had anyone seen Jace?" asked Alec, walking into the library. "I haven't seen him since this morning."

Mckenzie looked around the library. "... I haven't either..." she looked back at Alec. "Maybe he went to take a nap? He was up all night last night."

Alec nodded, and headed to Jace's room.

Alec was worried about Jace. Since Sky disappeared, all Jace would concentrate on was finding her. There was barely a sarcastic comment from him, or joke about Simon, or _anything_. Alec knew why. He was in love with Skylar.

It was true Skylar was a lot like Clary (that was probably why Jace had fallen for her in the first place) but Alec didn't believe that she _was_ Clary like everyone else did. Clary was dead. Period.

Jace knew it, too. Clary had died in his arms, Jace had told him. Alec had listened to Jace explain all the details over and over again when he'd had to pick him up from the bars. He would go on about Clary's last words, and what he wished he would've said, how beautiful, and full of life she had been when she was alive, and how he could feel her lifeless body slowly grow cold in his arms. Her surviving would've been impossible.

Alec knocked on Jace's bedroom door. When there was no answer, he went in. Jace wasn't there. His bed was made, and there was a note on the bed.

Alec walked over, picked it up, and unfolded it.

_Veronica contacted me. I went with her so she wouldn't kill Skylar. I've drawn a trace rune on myself so you could find me._

_-Jace_

Alec's eyes widened. He ran out of the room, and went straight to the library.

* * *

Clary slowly looked at Jace's face. His face was in a mask of shock, as he surely was, seeing Clary sitting there, alive. Not only that, but he'd seen Skylar turn _into_ Clary.

"... Jace..." said Clary, biting her lower lip. "I'm so sorry."

He was silent, just gaping.

"I didn't know," she said. "Thyme erased my memories, then planted new ones. I had no idea I was Clary."

Jace's face didn't move- not even a wince, or so much as a blink.

"Jace?" she had an overpowering urge to go to him. She yanked against her restraints, but it just made her raw, bloody wrists hurt more. "Jace, are you okay?"

Jace finally blinked, still staring at her. "... You're... You're..."

"They faked my death," she said quickly. "I don't know how, but after I thought I died, I woke up somewhere else, and Hana and Thyme were there... Jace?"

He still looked shocked. "... Here you are..." his voice was quiet, she almost didn't hear him. "Alive all this time."

She gave him a small smile- just a turn at the corners of her lips. "... I missed you."

Jace's mask of shock was slowly fading away, and his lips pulled up at the corner. "So, you've been Clary this whole time..." it wasn't a question.

Clary nodded.

"... Including when I was kissing Brooke?"

Clary felt a twinge of jealousy as the image of Jace kissing Brooke came to his mind. She winced.

A wide smirk came to Jace's lips. "I would come over there and kiss you right now," said Jace. "If I could get these damn things off," he gestured with his hands.

A smile broke across Clary's face, and she giggled quietly.

"I suppose I've known it was you deep down," he said, smiling serenely. "I knew that I loved you since the first time I saw you- both times. I was jealous when I heard you had a boyfriend, too."

Clary smiled. "I could tell." Clary could feel it again- the urge to be near him tickled her veins.

"I love you," he said after several seconds of saying nothing.

Clary's smile broadened. "I love you, too."

* * *

"... Got him," said Magnus. "They're in Germany- or at least Jace is."

"Then let's go get him," said Isabelle.

Magnus nodded, and turned to Brooke. "How's Skylar?"

Mckenzie looked spaced out for a second, then looked back at him. "She's fine."

Miles took hold of her hand, and she smiled.

"Alright," said Alec. "Let's get ready to go."

* * *

Hana walked into the room where she was keeping Clarissa and Jace. She caught Clarissa smiling for a brief second when she came in, but her smile dropped when she came back in.

"You did well," Hana said. "It worked."

"I know," Clarissa said flatly.

Hana set the notebook on her lap, open to a fresh page, and put the pencil into her hand. "Another one," she said. "Anything will do."

Clarissa began drawing another rune on the paper.

"And what does this do?" asked Hana.

Clarissa finished the rune. "It boosts your strength- a _lot_."

Hana took the book and pencil. "Good. Would you mind me testing it on your boyfriend?"

Clarissa shook her head slowly.

"Well, I'm not going to," she said.

Clarissa looked up at her, obviously surprised.

"I have a different test subject somewhere else, or didn't you know?" this was a lie, or course, but it put Clarissa on edge. Hana smiled. She pulled out her stele, and drew an _iratze_ on her arm. Her bloody wrists healed instantly, and her hair changed back to the honey color. "That's for cooperating," she smiled, then left.

* * *

"Dang," said Clary once Hana left. "I was kinda hoping she would test it on you," she said to Jace.

"So it actually boosts your strength?" Jace raised his eyebrow. How she wished she could do that.

"Yeah," she sighed. "All well. Do you have any ideas?"

The corner of Jace's mouth twitched. "I do. You'll see, just trust me."

Clary smiled. "I do."

* * *

Magnus, Mckenzie, Miles, Lydia, Ralph, Alec, and Isabelle all came through the portal, all armed, and in Shadowhunter gear but Magnus.

They stepped into a long hallway with wooden floors, and dark red walls, with paintings hung around. The only light that came in was natural, and it looked like the morning.

"Should we split up?" asked Lydia.

"Probably not," said Mckenzie. "Considering we're in enemy territory."

Miles snorted, and Mckenzie eyed him.

"We'll split up into two groups," said Magnus. "Thea, Aaron, and me, then you four," he gestured to everyone else.

"_Lydia_," Lydia corrected. "And _Ralph_."

Magnus rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Let's get moving."

* * *

"Brooke is still my _parabatai_," Clary explained to Jace. "I can still feel her, even though it was never technically our choice."

Jace nodded. "I suppose you now understand what Alec is to me," the corner of his mouth pulled into a small smile. "Sort of. Speaking of which, her name isn't _Brooke_."

Clary blinked. Why hadn't she thought of that before. "Oh. I suppose it wouldn't be. What is it?"

"Mckenzie."

Clary raised her eyebrows.

"And she's now with Miles," Jace smirked.

Clary frowned. "Who's-"

"Adrian."

Clary's eyes widened. "Wow... I didn't see that coming."

Jace chuckled.

Suddenly, the door flew open, and made both of them jump. Hana slammed the door shut behind her, and marched up to Jace, looking enraged. "I _told_ you not to _talk_ to anyone!" she exploded. "And yet, they're here!"

Jace and Clary's eyes widened.

"_What_?" said Clary, thinking she'd misheard.

Hana looked at her, danger in her eyes. "They're _here_," she growled, then turned back to Jace. "You're going to pay for that."

"No!" Clary yelled, suddenly afraid for him. She yanked against the cuffs, and her wrists started to hurt again. "No, don't!"

Hana turned toward Clary, and crossed her arms. "What do you suppose I do then, hm?"

"Anything you want to me," Clary said quickly.

"No," said Jace.

"Just don't hurt him," Clary said desperately.

Hana smirked. "Sorry, but I'll have to do _something_," she turned to Jace, and pulled out a knife.

"No!" Clary screamed, yanking desperately against the restraints, which didn't let her move even an inch, and her wrists now had blood coming from them. "No!"

Hana lifted up the hem of Jace's shirt, and exposed a rune. Clary instantly knew which rune it was: the trace rune.

"Stop!" Clary yelled.

Jace's face looked like he was preparing for pain.

Hana was now in front of Jace, and Clary couldn't see him.

Jace cried out in pain, and Clary yelled. She wasn't sure what she saw saying even. She could feel blood running down her wrists, and palms as her fingernails cut her palm. "Stop!" she begged. "_Stop_!"

Hana walked over to the table with a bloody knife in her hand, and set it down on the table, then started looking for a potion.

Clary looked at Jace. His shirt was back over his stomach, and there was blood. A lot of blood. Clary whimpered, and felt tears start rolling down her face.

Jace's face was hard- like he was shoving away his pain- and his eyes were squeezed shut.

"Sorry about that," said Hana. "I needed to get rid of the rune, because now we have to move."

Clary's hands turned to fists, and she clenched her jaw. She felt anger pulse through her. She yanked at the cuffs, feeling the pain, but not caring. She started yelling foul words at Hana, and her response seemed to be shaking with laughter.

"Relax, Clarissa. I'm going to heal him, but first, I have to make the potion, or he'll die, so will you _shut up_?"

Clary went silent, and her eyes fixed on Jace. His eyes were open now, on her, and he was breathing quickly, but carefully.

_I'm sorry_, he mouthed.

Clary shook her head. That was his plan, and it may have worked if Hana hadn't noticed they were here.

"What potion?" Clary said in a shaky voice.

"My knife is laced with poison," said Hana. "Unfortunately, I'd forgotten about that."

Clary bit her tongue to keep from yelling more vile words at that woman.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and in came Alec with his bow drawn. Everything happened in slow motion from that point on.

Alec took in the room for a total of one second, and Hana spun around, a vile in her hand. Her eyes widened when she saw Alec.

Clary saw the vile, and knew that that was what was needed to save Jace. She saw Alec, bowstring drawn, and aiming at Hana. "No!" she yelled, but it was too late. Alec had released it, and his arrow flew into Hana's heart.

Hana fell backwards, knocking over the potion table, scattering the ingredients, and having all the vials smash when they hit the cement.

Clary screamed. "What have you done?!"

* * *

**This ISN'T the last chapter, don't worry. I'll post the next chapter tomorrow :)**

**Twitter: WisterianPrince**

**Tell me what you thought :)**


	23. Chapter 23

**I'm apologizing for all and any mistakes now. It's currently 7 AM, and I haven't slept a wink. I've been up all night writing, and rewriting this chapter. That was to make up for now posting yesterday.**

**Sorry about that, BTW. Hectic day at home, and I couldn't get into the right mind space to write anything good.**

**I hope this chapter was worth the wait!**

* * *

Alec, Isabelle, Mckenzie, and Miles all walked down the long hallway.

"How's Jace?" Isabelle asked Alec.

Alec tested his parabatai connection in his head, and felt relieved. "He's fine."

Just then, they heard a door slam, and they were all alert. Alec drew back his bowstring, ready to take someone out if found necessary.

"Where did that come from?" asked Miles, also alert.

"Dunno," Isabelle muttered.

They walked soundlessly down the hallway for several more seconds before they heard voices.

"Sky," Mckenzie whispered. "I hear her."

They saw a partially hidden staircase that went down. "Is this where-" Alec was cut off when he heard a scream.

"Go!" Isabelle hissed.

Alec trotted down the stairs, and the others followed him. The further they got down the out of place cement staircase, the louder the voices got.

They got to a metal door, and Isabelle reached around him, and turned the door handle. Alec kicked the door open, and went in with his bowstring drawn back to his cheek. He took in the scene in one second. Skylar and Jace, tied to chairs, Veronica, turning from a table to see Alec. Her eyes widened.

"No!" Skylar shouted, but Alec had already released the bowstring, and the arrow went flying. It hit Veronica directly in the heart, and she fell back into a table, smashing lots of glass.

Skylar screamed, and he looked at her. "What have you done?!" she cried.

Alec was momentarily confused.

Isabelle came in after Alec, then Miles and Mckenzie.

Alec looked at Jace, whose head had just fallen forward.

"Jace!" Skylar yelled. "Jace, no!"

Alec ran to Jace, not paying attention to what the others were doing. He saw the blood on the front of his T-shirt, and pulled out his stele. He drew the iratze on Jace's arm, but nothing happened. It only faded away, the th bloodstain was continuing to grow.

Skylar was suddenly there, looking awful. She took Jace's face in both her hands, and looked at him. "Jace?" she said frantically. "Jace, wake up!"

Jace was definitely unconscious.

Sky looked up at Alec. She looked very different than she'd ever looked. "He;s been poisoned!" she was definitely freaking out. "Help him!"

* * *

Alec snapped into action. He pulled out his phone- most likely calling Magnus.

Clary's attention went back to Jace. She shook him slightly to try and get him awake again. "Jace!"

Jace's eyes opened a small amount. "... Clary..." he said, his voice weak.

"Hold on, Jace," she said. "You're gonna be fine." She could feel Brooke's familiar presence close behind her, but was focused completely on Jace.

"... I love you," Jace said weakly. Those were the last words Clary had said to Jace when she'd thought she was gonna die.

"No," she said firmly. "You're not gonna die!" her voice broke, and she could feel the tears running again. "I just got you back."

Jace's eyes started dropping again, but Clary slapped him. He blinked, still looking tired. "Ouch."

"Stay with me!" she said as firmly as she could manage, but her voice was still full of tears.

"... Kiss me."

Clary blinked the tears from her eyes. "What?"

"Kiss me... right now," Jace's voice was quiet, and weak, but Clary understood.

She leaned forward the few inches that were between them, and kissed him fiercely. She hadn't kissed him as Clary in years, and ever since she'd woken up, she'd been dying to.

Jace kissed her back with as much as he could muster. She could feel how weak he was, but how much he'd wanted to kiss her, too. Their kiss lasted for a few seconds, bit Clary' felt Jace go limp, and pulled back.

"Jace?"

Jace's eyes were closed.

Clary tapped the side of his face with her hand repeatedly. "Jace, stay with me, stay-"

"Magnus!" said Alec.

Clary looked over, and saw Magnus walking towards Jace. Thea stepped in after, followed by Aaron. "Help him! Please!" More tears spilled from Clary's eyes.

Magnus hovered his hands over Jace- who was still strapped to the chair. His hands slowly lowered. "I'm sorry... He's gone."

Clary heard Brooke's slight gasp before Clary burst into tears. He knees gave out beneath her, and they hit the cement, sending pain through her leg, but she didn't care. She gripped Jace's shirt to keep herself up, and put her face into his chest as she sobbed.

She heard others crying, too, and arguing, but couldn't hear what they were saying- not that she cared.

Clary couldn't believe this was happening. This couldn't happen. This was her third time losing Jace, and this time, there was no getting him back. He was gone.

Clary felt someone put their hand on her shoulder, but shrugged them off, continuing to sob into Jace's T-shirt.

"Fraudulenti demon poison," said Magnus. "Alec, you were right."

Clary lost herself in her sobs again.

"Clary," said Magnus.

She didn't respond.

"Clary!" Magnus grabbed her by her forearms, and yanked her to her feet, pulling her away from JAce.

"No!" she screamed. "Let me go!"

When Magnus had pulled her a few feet away from Jace, he wrapped his arms around her to stop her from escaping. "Clary!" he said firmly in her ear.

Clary continued to fight against him.

"Clary, he isn't dead!"

Clary quieted for a moment, then looked over her shoulder.

"Alec said his parabatai connection hadn't broken, so I checked what poison was on Hana's blade," said Magnus. "It was Fraudulenti demon poison- the one that fakes the symptoms of death."

"The one she used on me," Clary whispered. "Let me go."

Magnus released her, and Clary took a few steps forward before collapsing onto the dirty cement floor. She hadn't eaten in days, and she felt very weak.

"Sky!" Brooke was suddenly hovering over her. "Sky, are you okay?"

"... Clary," she mumbled. "You can call me Clary," then everything went black.

* * *

"... It's unpleasant to see him like this," said a voice Clary couldn't identify. "It's like he's..."

"I know," said another.

"Magnus, are you sure that's the poison?"

"Of course. I triple checked. Also, Alec would feel it if it weren't."

"That's right," said- presumably- Alec. "The poison can fake all the symptoms of death, but it can't fool the parabatai."

Reality was slowly fading back to Clary, and the voiced became more and more clear.

"Speaking of parabatais," said Brooke. "Sky- uh, Clary is still asleep. Should we be worried?"

"Nah," said Magnus. "It was probably a combination of shock, and lack of calories. She'll be fine when she wakes up, just give her that potion."

"Okay," said Brooke.

Clary let out a small moan when she realized how much everything hurt. Her stomach, her wrists, her throat, her head...

"Sk- Clary?" Brooke's voice was closer now.

Clary opened her heavy eyelids. She tried to say something, but it came out another small groan from how dry her throat was.

"Here," Brooke helped her into a slight sitting position, then handed her a tall glass.

Clary took it in both weak hands, and Brooke kept one hand on the glass. It was gone in seconds. "... Jace," said Clary, once she had her voice. "Where's Jace?"

"Over here," said Alec. "He's fine, don't worry."

Clary turned her head to see Jace in another infirmary bed only several feet from her. She sat up, and swung her feet off, but Brooke put her arm in front of her. "Don't," she warned, but in a worrisome way. "I wouldn't if I were you."

Clary looked closely at Jace. He wasn't moving- not even the slightest bit. Clary but down on her tongue- hard. She now tastes blood.

"How do you feel?" Brooke asked.

"Like I wanna see Jace," Clary said in a small voice. Brooke sighed.

Clary noticed Isabelle standing near Jace's bed, but looking at her. She had mascara streaks down her face- same as Brooke, and presumably herself. Clary guessed they'd all cried when they thought Jace had died.

Brooke smiled slightly at her. "You should shower."

Clary shook her head. "I want to stay here."

"Maybe not," said Isabelle, pulling out a pocket sized mirror, and showing Clary her own reflection.

Clary let out a little squeak. Her honey hair was stringy, and her makeup smeared down her face. She had a little red powder in her hair, and on her white dress- which had blood stains, was ripped, dirty, dusty, and it had purple and red from the potions Hana had used.

Remembering this, Clary shuddered.

A smile broke across Brooke's face, and she chuckled. "Shower, and change, that way, when Jace wakes up..." she winked at her.

Clary finally agreed when they said Jace would be out for a minimum of five more hours.

After a half hour of scrubbing dried blood off her skin, and shampooing her hair, Clary came out of her bathroom in a towel. Mckenzie had an outfit laid out on her bed for her, and Clary didn't pay much attention to it before putting it on.

When she was ready, she went straight back to the infirmary, and found no change.

* * *

Clary woke up from motion beside her. Her eyes flew open, and she saw she was on the infirmary bed next to Jace. He was breathing. She sat up quickly, and turned towards him. A huge grin stretched across her face.

Alec and Magnus were sleeping together one bed over, and on her other side was Mckenzie, and Miles, and on the other side of them was Isabelle. Ralph and Lydia had gone who knows where.

Clary turned her attention back to Jace. She touched the side of his face. He felt ice cold. She leaned over to his ear. "Jace," she said quietly, trying not to wake the others. "Jace, wake up."

* * *

"Jace," said a distant voice. "Jace, wake up."

Jace knew this voice- knew it better than any other in the world. It was Clary's voice.

"Jace, can you hear me?"

"... Clary," his voice was weak, and barely audible. Was he dead? He distinctly remembered dying.

"Jace," there was happiness in Clary's voice. "You're okay," happiness, and relief.

Jace tried to open his eyes, but he was having a hard time finding them. "... Did I die?"

"No. We thought you did. You gave me a heart attack there for a second."

He could suddenly feel her hand on his face. It felt so warm, and nice. It was then when Jace realized he was freezing.

"The poison was Fraudulenti demon poison."

Jace finally found his eyelids, and pried them open. He saw Skylar's face smiling down at him, and briefly wondered if she was before remembering what had happened. "... Clary..."

Clary smiled. "Yeah."

Jace shivered, getting more and more aware of how cold and numb he felt.

Clary slowly came down to him, and kissed him. He could barely feel his arm, but he put one hand on Clary's waist. Clary's hand went to the side of his neck. Her skin felt so warm.

Jace wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her to his chest. She felt warmer now, and he could feel her heart beating faster beneath his hands.

"Ugh, get a room," Magnus groaned, apparently woken up.

Clary giggled softly against Jace's lips, then went back to kissing him.

Magnus groaned again, annoyed.

Clary stopped kissing him, and moved her lips to his ear. "I love you," she whispered.

Jace smiled. Everything suddenly felt perfect. "I love you, too."

* * *

"Miles! Lydia!" cried a vaguely familiar woman.

"Mom!" Lydia ran straight to her, and jumped into her arms.

Miles hadn't seen his mother since he was eleven, and if he was being perfectly honest with himself, he was a little nervous. They were both completely different people now. What if she didn't like him?

After the long hug with Lydia, and their short conversation, she looked at Miled, and her expression turned from happy to vulnerable. "Miles," she breathed, slowly approaching him. She stopped in front of him, and looked up at him. She was almost as short as Clary.

"Hey, Mom," Miles smiled slightly.

She pulled him into her embrace, and began to cry tears of joy. "Oh I'm so happy you're alive."

Miles felt relief wash through his body as he wrapped his slender, yet muscular arms around her.

His mother pulled back, and looked at his face. "My goodness," she smiled. "You look just like your father."

The corner of Miles' mouth quirked. He then remembered Mckenzie, and looked to where she stood off to the side of the room. He held his hand out to her, and she came to him, taking his hand. "Mom, this is-"

"Mckenzie Silverwood," she breathed, gaping in shock. "You're quite a gorgeous young woman now," she smiled.

Mckenzie smiled, and blushed slightly.

"Mom, I know this might be a lot to ask, but... Mckenzie doesn't have anywhere to go..."

"Of course she does," his mother said quickly.

Mckenzie and Miles both looked at her.

"You can stay with us," she smiled at her. "That is, if you want to."

Mckenzies smile broadened. "Of course. Yes. Thank you very much."

"Or course, you two may need to share a bed, we're low on space."

Miles and Mckenzie suddenly turned scarlet.

His mother laughed. "Goodness, I'm kidding. We've got four bedrooms, remember? Mckenzie can have her own room."

"Th- thank you," Mckenzie was still blushing from his mother's comment. He didn't blame her. He was still blushing, too.

"Of course, Dear," she smiled. "Anytime."

Magnus walked up behind them, and clapped both of them on the shoulder. "Okay, now what?"

* * *

**Okay, this was the last chapter!**

**I'll write an epilogue if you guys really want one, but you guys may have to give me some ideas n that :p**

**Well, I'm exhausted. I had caffeine, so I think I'll just stay awake, but now I need to think about my next writing project. I've got a couple ideas, but I wanna hear what you think! Maybe I'll take a break to read Divergent...**

**Thank you all so much for supporting me through this book!**

**I love you all!**

**Wisterian Princess**

**P.S. Follow me on Twitter at WisterianPrince. Thanks!**


	24. Epilogue

**I did it! Woohoo! Thanks you all so much for supporting me through this story! It means so much to me :D**

**This is kinda long, I know. It's 4,902 words, and my usual is about 2,000.**

**I really hope you guys like it! Happy New Year!**

* * *

The Institute was full of people from the Clave. Clary had been questioned over, and over about what had happened, and she'd had to explain dozens of times, and relive her upsetting experience.

"... Clary?"

Clary turned to see her mother, staring at her with wide eyes. "Mom," Clary breathed. The last time Clary had seen Jocelyn, it had been on the train, and Clary hadn't known she knew her.

Jocelyn looked shocked, her face full of disbelief. "... They said you were alive... I needed to see it to believe it..." her voice made her sound lost.

Clary threw her arms around her, and pulled her into a tight embrace. Jocelyn began crying into her hair. Whether it was from relief, or joy, or sadness, Clary wasn't sure. "I'm sorry. I know that must have been hard on you.

"... I'm just..." Jocelyn sniffed. "I'm just glad you're alive," she breathed.

"Thanks, Mom."

* * *

"So Magnus was right," said Simon. "You _are_ alive."

Clary, Isabelle, and Simon were all in front of the Institute, and it was pitch black out.

"Yeah," said Clary. "Thanks for being there for me, by the way," Clary smiled.

Simon smiled, too, and threw his arms around her. Clary laughed. "You kinda knew though, didn't you?" Clary remembered when they were both at Java Jones, and Simon had asked her if she was Clary.

"Sort of," Simon shrugged, and pulled back.

"Okay, enough of that," said Isabelle. "I know you guys wanna hang probably, but Simon and I have plans."

Simon looked at Isabelle. "_Right_." He looked back at Clary. "Call me?" Simon's eyes widened for a second as if something had occurred to him. He laughed nervously. "You know what, on second thought, _I'll_ call _you_."

Clary frowned, but nodded. "See ya."

Isabelle grabbed Simon's jacket sleeve, and hauled him away.

Clary watched them disappear in the distance, thinking about how different Simon was now that he had Isabelle. He seemed really happy.

"Are you cold?"

Clary gasped, and spun around. Jace was standing there, just smiling. "You _scared_ me!"

Jace chuckled. "Well are you?"

Clary hadn't really realized it, but she was. She shivered.

Jace slipped off his jacket, and put it over her shoulders.

Clary smiled, and inhaled his scent. "Thanks."

Jace smiled, a serene look in his eyes. "I missed you, Clary."

Clary smiled. "I missed you, too."

Jace stepped up to her, and put his arms around her. "Are you tired?" he asked.

Clary nodded, feeling exhausted from the day's events.

"Do you want to go to sleep?"

Clary nodded.

Jace walked Clary back into the Institute, his arm around her shoulders. For the first time in a very long time, Clary felt safe.

Sure Clary felt safe as Skylar, but there was always that tiny part of her mind that knew she was in danger, and there was something wrong. Now, that feeling was gone, and Clary felt completely safe now that all the bad guys were dead.

Jace stopped outside her bedroom door, and turned to her. "Have a good night, Clary." He said her name as if he still couldn't believe that she was there with him. He came down, and kissed her lips. It was a slow, passionate kiss that made Clary feel like she was melting.

Jace smiled against her lips, and pulled away. He gave her a lingering look, then turned.

Clary caught his wrist. "Wait."

He stopped and looked back at her curiously.

"... Stay with me?"

A smile crept across Jace's face, and he turned back to her. "Whatever you want."

Clary took a step forward so she was directly in front of him, took his face in her hands, and pulled him down to her. This kiss wasn't slow like the last, but more fierce. He grabbed her by her waist, and pushed her up against the door.

Clary's lips broke from his to get a much needed breath, then her lips attacked him again.

Clary felt behind her for the door handle. She turned it, and they both stumbled in, and Clary kicked the door shut.

* * *

**Four Years Later...**

Clary woke up from the sound or an alarm clock blaring. She groaned, and put her pillow over her head to block out the sound.

The alarm stopped, and her pillow was taken. "Wake up," Jace said playfully in her ear, then kissed her cheek.

"I'm tired," she groaned. "Five more minutes."

"Are you going to make me shower _alone_?"

Clary looked up at him and opened one eye. "I'm _pregnant_. I'm entitled to extra sleep."

Jace chuckled. "You're mean, but also right," he kissed her briefly. "I'll see you after," he got out of bed, and walked to the bathroom.

Clary expelled a breath, and rolled over- minding her baby bump- then pulled the blanket up to her chin.

It had been eight months since Clary had figured out she was pregnant. She remembered how much she'd freaked out. She'd went straight to Mckenzie and Miles' house in Idris, and hid out there for three days. Jace, meanwhile, didn't know she was pregnant, and thought she was mad at him.

They'd been married for just over a year at that point.

Clary heard the shower turn on, and decided she should just get up. She sat up, and attempted to neaten her messy carroty-red hair. She tugged the rim of her tank top over the strip of her stomach that was exposed, and expelled a breath.

Jace opened the bathroom door and poked his head out. "Don't forget, the rehearsal dinner tonight," then he closed the door again.

Clary groaned and fell back on her pillow. She'd _completely_ forgotten about that.

She sat back up, opened the nightstand drawer, and pulled out the wedding invitation.

_You are formally invited to the wedding union of Mckenzie Ellen Silverwood and Miles Benjamin Stormwell..._

Clary sighed. That was happening _tomorrow_. Gosh, how time flew.

It didn't seem like that long ago when Clary had thought she was Skylar Ravenwalker, Mckenzie's- or _Brooke's_ sister. So much had happened over the last four years.

Magnus and Alec had gotten married, Lydia and Ralph were living together, Isabelle and Simon were living together, and Mckenzie and Miles were engaged. Not to mention the fact that Clary was pregnant.

Clary put the invitation back in the drawer.

The bathroom door opened, and Jace poked his head out again. "Last chance to join me," he smiled.

Clary chuckled. "Fine. You win," she stood up, walked around the bed, and walked to the bathroom.

Jace looped one arm around her waist, and kissed her fiercely. Clary wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled herself as close as she could without putting too much pressure on her stomach.

"Shut the door," she whispered.

Jace chuckled, and kicked the door shut.

* * *

Lydia walked into the ballroom that was rested out for Mckenzie and Miles' rehearsal dinner. Her and Ralph had agreed to meet there.

She looked around at the guests, and decided it was right for her to go for a sexy-look considering there were dozens of young, gorgeous looking women here.

She spotted Mckenzie and Miles together towards the center of the room, walking with a group of girls. She walked up to them. "Hey."

All the eyes turned to her, and Mckenzie and Miles smiled. "Lydia," Mckenzie embraced her. "Oh my gosh, it's so good to _see_ you," she pulled back and looked her up and down.

Lydia was eighteen now, and knew she was beautiful. She was still short, and slender, but she looked more mature, and her hair was now down to her waist.

The outfit she was wearing was a tight, red dress that went down to her mid-thighs, with spaghetti straps, and a v-neckline. She had on six inch, black, gap-toed pumps to make herself appear taller, and to top off her look, she was wearing her four-year-dating-anniversary gift from Ralph: a necklace with a gold chain, and a rectangular charm with a large, red gem in the center.

"It's nice to see you, too," said Lydia, smiling at Mckenzie- who was in a beautiful blue dress. "You look _gorgeous_."

Mckenzie smiled. "Thanks. So do you."

Miles came up next, and embraced her. "Hey sis."

"Hey," she pulled back and looked at him. He didn't look very different than he had when he was nineteen- maybe a bit taller, but that was all. "Is Ralph with you?"

"On his way," she kissed him on the cheek.

"Miles, your parents are here," said Mckenzie, waving at Lydia's parents.

"Tell them I said hi," said Lydia.

"Can do," said Miles. He looked at the group of four girls in short dresses they'd been talking to. "It was great to see you guys again."

"You too," said the tallest of the group. "Congradulations."

After Miles and Mckenzie left, Lydia studied the girls. They were all gorgeous, and taller than her. They looked like they may have been models.

One of them looked at her. "Wait, Lydia? As in Miles' baby _sister_?"

Lydia was annoyed with this girl already. She shrugged. "The one and only."

The girl smiled. "_Aw_, you've _totally_ grown up."

Lydia scoffed. "Yeah," she had _no_ idea. Lydia was now living with her boyfriend, and was now a legal adult. Not to mention that her and Ralph shared a bed...

"You wouldn't remember me," she said. "I used to babysit you when you were six?"

Lydia's eyes widened. "Oh." She _did_ remember her. Layla. She'd been her _least_ favorite babysitter of every one she'd ever had. "Did you?"

Layla nodded. "You were so cute!"

Her friends giggled.

Lydia felt hate for this girl now. Pure, unfiltered hate.

"Oh. My. _God_." One of her friends had her eyes fixed on something behind Lydia. "That is the single most attractive guy I've ever seen in my life."

The other girls looked where she was looking, and so did Lydia. She laughed when she saw who she was talking about. Why was she not surprised? "Are you talking about _Jace_?"

"The golden _god_," the girl marveled.

Layla looked at her. "You _know_ him?"

"Oh yeah," Lydia tossed her hair out of her face. The way Layla was looking at her made Lydia look like she was her savior.

"How well?"

Lydia shrugged. "I was a bridesmaid at his wedding."

All their eyes turned to her. "_Wedding_?"

"Yeah, he's married."

The disappointed looks on each of their faces made Lydia smile. This was _fun_.

Layla's gaze turned to someone else. "Oh, he's not bad either."

"And it looks like he isn't with anyone," cooed the other one.

Lydia followed their gazes again to a brown haired boy that was approaching them. Ralph. Lydia smiled.

"I call this one, girls," said Layla. "Amy can have the next one."

"Ugh," said the other girl- Amy? "You get _all_ the good ones," she complained.

Ralph was only a matter of feet away now, and he paused and gave a charming smile. "Hey gorgeous."

Lydia heard Layla make a small giggling sound. She'd thought it was for _her_. Lydia smirked at this. "Not so bad yourself."

Lydia could now feel the other girls' eyes on her. She could imagine their thoughts now.

Ralph chuckled.

Lydia walked up to him, closing all the distance between them by grabbing the collar of his jacket, and pulling herself to him.

He took her by the waist, and kissed her fiercely.

She heard Layla gasp, but almost didn't. She could barely sense what was around her, she was so into Ralph's perfect kiss. He'd been an amazing kisser since she could remember.

She pulled back about an inch, and smiled. "Hey."

He smiled too. "Hey. You look _amazing_, by the way."

"Thanks," they shared another brief kiss before Lydia turned back around- still not released from Ralph's arms. The looks on their faces were priceless. "This is Ralph, my boyfriend. Ralph, these are..." she paused and frowned. "Some girls I just met," she waved at them, and took Ralph's hand. "See you girls later," then she pulled Ralph by the hand away from them.

He spun her around, and kissed her again. "I love you."

"I know," she murmured teasingly. "I love you, too."

* * *

Mckenzie remembered when Miles had proposed. It had been when they were visiting Redondo beach last summer. They'd spent the day attempting to surf, and at sunset, he asked her to marry him.

"Mckenzie Ellen Silverwood," he'd said. "I love you. I love you more than anything, or anyone in this entire world, and I want to be with you forever. Will you do me the honor of-"

She'd cut him off. "Yes." She'd never been so sure about anything in her entire life. She wanted to be with Miles for the rest of her life.

"Are you okay?" Miles asked Mckenzie.

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's just a little overwhelming, that's all."

Miles looked concerned. "Are you getting cold feet?"

Mckenzie shook her head. "No, of course not. It's just... I'm not used to being the center of attention," she blushed.

The corner of Miles' mouth pulled up. "It's your wedding day. You should probably get used to it," he chuckled.

Mckenzie smiled.

Miles put his arm around her waist, and pulled her to him. "You'll be beautiful. You always are."

Mckenzie blushed, and Miles kissed her. After a few seconds, he pulled away.

"Ready?"

Mckenzie nodded. "I love you, Miles. More than anything," she moved his black silk hair out of his eyes with her middle finger.

Miles wound his other arm around her waist, and smiled. "Not as much as I love you."

Mckenzie giggled, and kissed him again, aware of all the other eyes on them, but suddenly didn't care.

* * *

Isabelle caught sight of Simon at the other end of the room, talking to Clary. She made her way over to them.

"... Good luck, Simon," said Clary, who had one hand on her stomach, and the other on Simon's shoulder.

Simon swallowed, and nodded.

"Hey," said Isabelle, walking over.

Simon looked at her. He looked... _Scared_? What had they been talking about?

"I'll see you guys later," said Clary, walking away.

Isabelle looked at Simon and raised her eyebrow. "What was that about?"

"Um," Simon scratched the back of his head and looked at the ground. "Nothing."

Isabelle eyed him suspiciously. What was he hiding?

Isabelle could always get Simon's secrets out of him. It was easy. He would snap under her like a twig.

She stepped forward so that she was right in front of him, and put her fingers under his chin. "What are you hiding?" she whispered playfully.

Simon swallowed, and stepped back, away from her. "C- could we get some air?"

Isabelle frowned. He was a vampire, he didn't _need_ air. "... Sure..."

She followed Simon out to one of the vacant balconies. It was dark, and the moon was nearly full overhead. "Simon, what's wrong?" He was acting awfully suspicious...

"... Isabelle..." he looked at his feet. "I don't know how to say this..."

Isabelle was suddenly overcome with fear. What was going on that was making him so nervous?

"It's been really hard to lie all those times about where I was..." he looked up at her, and swallowed. "I haven't been going to band practice. I've been..." he seemed to choke on the words, as if he was trying to say '_god_'.

Isabelle bit her tongue, and turned away. Was he _cheating_ on her? Her hand went over her mouth. Not again.

She sunk her molars into her tongue to keep from crying. How could he _do_ this to her? They were _living_ together, they loved each other.

Isabelle took her hand away from her mouth, and composed herself. She turned around. "Simon, how could you..." she trailed off when she saw Simon on the ground, kneeling down. He looked nervous, and scared. He pulled out a small box, and opened it. There was a ring.

Isabelle's hand went back over her mouth. She was _not_ expecting this.

"I-Isabelle Sophia Lightwood," Simon swallowed. His hands were shaking. "I love you. I love you, and I want to be with you for... for as long as we both have," he swallowed again. "Will you marry me, Isabelle?"

Isabelle hadn't noticed she was holding her breath until she was desperate for air. Was this really happening? She hadn't even _thought_ of marriage, much less with Simon. He was a vampire- not that Isabelle had anything against downworlders, but he was immortal. He was going to live on after she was gone. He wouldn't age. If Isabelle lived to be an old woman, people would mistake her for his grandmother.

Not to mention the fact that she would be _marrying_ someone. Living with him, having kids, being with him for the rest of her life...

Isabelle had been silent for an awkwardly long time now. Simon looked uncomfortable, and scared in a different way now.

Isabelle had to make a decision. She could either say yes, and marry Simon Lewis, or she could say no, and her and Simon would probably be over. Isabelle wasn't really the type to commit, but then again, this was Simon. She loved Simon. She wanted to be with him, but... Did she want to marry him?

"... I... Isabelle?" Simon said in a shaky voice.

Isabelle had made the decision. She surprised even herself when she answered. Her voice came out in a little squeak that neither of them heard. She wasn't really sure what her answer was. She was going with her instincts.

"What?" said Simon expectantly.

"... Yes," Isabelle breathed. She'd said it.

A huge smile broke across Simon's face.

Isabelle helped Simon to his feet, and he put the ring on her finger while she watched in shock.

Then it hit her. She loved Simon. Being with him would make her happy. She smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

* * *

**The Next Day...**

Clary felt at the braided swirl on the back of her head. That was the uniform hairstyle for the bridesmaids.

"You look beautiful," said Jace, looking at Clary in her red, silk dress that fitted nicely over her round stomach.

Clary blushed and smiled. "Not so bad yourself," she looked at Jace's suit, and chuckled inwardly. He rarely dressed like this. Only for weddings, she noticed.

Clary felt a strange, cramping sensation. She'd been getting them on and off since last night.

"Are you okay?" Jace asked, standing up and frowning.

"Fine," Clary said, the feeling gone. "The baby moved, that's all."

Jace smiled, and put his hands on the red silk that was fitted over her protruding belly. "What are we going to name it?" Jace asked. Surprisingly, they hadn't talked about it yet.

Clary shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't thought about it."

"Well we should soon. The due date is in less than a week."

Clary laughed nervously. It was nerve wracking, the thought of her being a mother. She constantly wondered if she'd be a good one. Jace constantly reassured her she would be.

"We should go," said Jace. "We don't want to be late."

Clary smiled and took his offered hand.

* * *

Clary was standing with the other bridesmaids. Lydia was among them, looking somehow incredibly gorgeous in red with her hair pulled back. Isabelle was there, too, looking somehow... Different. What did she say to Simon's proposal, she wondered? She wouldn't ask, though, just in case he chickened out at the last minute.

Clary had the strange sensation that she was being watched. She looked over her shoulder, and for a second thought she saw someone, but no one was there.

"Clary!" Miles' mom called. She had taken the place of Mckenzie's mother, it seemed, since she'd been found.

She walked up to Clary and smiled. "You look beautiful, honey," she smiled. "Mckenzie needs you, I think. She's nervous, poor dear."

Clary nodded, and headed towards the dressing room. She knocked on the door. "Mckenzie? It's Clary, can I come in?"

"Yes," Clary could hear the tension in her voice. She walked in, and shut the door behind her.

Clary said: "You look beautiful." She _did_. She was wearing a gold wedding dress that went off both her shoulders, and her light blonde ringlets, were left down around her shoulders.

She smiled nervously. "Thanks."

Clary walked up to her and took her hands.

"Clary, you've always been like a sister to me," she said. "And you mean a lot to me, too. Ever since my mother died... Well, ever since I woke up from being Brooke, I hadn't had anyone but you. Thank you for being my sister, Clary."

Clary smiled, tears stinging the backs of her eyes. "You can do this. You're brave."

Mckenzie smiled. "Thank you."

* * *

Clary saw Mckenzie start walking down the aisle, her arm linked with Miles' father's. She felt the sensation in her stomach again, and her face tightened. They were getting longer, and closer together. What was going on?

"Are you okay, Clary?" Isabelle whispered in her ear.

"Fine," she said in a whisper, voice slightly strained. "How did it go last night?" Her eyes widened at her own words, and she bit her tongue. Oops.

There were a few seconds of silence from Isabelle. "I'm surprised Simon didn't tell you. I asked him to keep it a secret for a while, but I said yes."

A huge grin stretched across Clary's face. The pain was gone now. "Congratulations," she whispered. Mckenzie was getting pretty close now.

"Thanks," said Isabelle, glancing at Simon in the crowd.

Mckenzie met Miles, and they started saying their vows. After a few minutes, Clary felt the pain in her stomach again. She was having a hard time keeping her balance.

"Clary, are you having _contractions_?" Isabelle said under her breath.

Was _that_ what this was? Clary had been neglecting her studying. "Possibly?"

Isabelle let out an exasperated sigh in her ear. "_I_ even studied this, Clary. It's been, what two minutes? You're going to have the baby soon."

Clary bit her lip. She out her hands on her stomach. "Just wait," she whispered.

With the support of Isabelle and Lydia, Clary stayed at her place, but she noticed that a couple of bridesmaids and people in the audience noticed her having contractions- including Jace. She signaled for him not to move, and he didn't look too happy about it.

Everyone started clapping, and Clary realized Mckenzie and Miles had finished their vows and runes, and were now married.

Clary smiled, but was having a contraction, and found it hard to concentrate.

"Just take deep breaths," said Lydia.

Clary did so, and watched as Mckenzie and Miles left. The second they were out of sight, Jace came to her side.

"Clary, what's happening?" he asked urgently as Clary slid to the ground.

"She's having the baby," Lydia and Isabelle said in unison.

Jace crouched next to Clary and took her shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't know," Clary managed.

"She'd been neglecting her studies," Isabelle said, annoyed.

"As to be expected from her," said Lydia, rolling her eyes.

"How many minutes apart?" Jace asked.

"Two," said Isabelle. "Maybe less."

Jace's eyes widened. "Clary, you're going to have the baby _right_ now."

"Oh I know," Clary growled. She was starting to get sweaty.

"What's going on?" asked Jocelyn, walking over.

"Clary's gonna have the baby," said Lydia.

Jocelyn's eyes widened. "Okay. Help Clary up." This was one of Jocelyn's freaky-calm moments. This made Clary nervous.

Jace and Jocelyn helped her to her feet.

"Draw a portal rune," said Lydia.

Clary nodded.

They lead her to somewhere less full of watching eyes, and Jace drew the portal rune- one of the runes he'd memorized over the years.

They got Clary to the Institute's infirmary.

"Call Magnus," said freaky-calm Jocelyn.

Isabelle nodded, and pulled out her phone.

"Alright, Clary," said Jace, taking her hand. "Are you ready?"

* * *

Magnus saw the woman standing on the balcony. She was in a long red dress and her hair was in a messy updo. "I was wondering when one of you would find me," she turned around to face him, and gave an evil smile. "Are you going to try to kill me Magnus Bane?" It wasn't much of a question, more an assumption.

"I only want to know why you're here, Hana, and how you're still alive."

The corners of Hana's lips pulled up at the corners. "I'm here for my son's wedding. Isn't it obvious?"

"He isn't your son, and you tend to be a heartless bitch," Magnus said flatly.

Her smile dropped.

"How did you survive?"

Her smile returned. "It seems I'm _not_ the last of the Circle. There are three more of us."

"Good for you," Magnus' tone was still flat. "What are you _really_ doing here?"

She didn't answer, only smiled broadly.

Magnus's phone buzzed, and he pulled it out.

_Clary's in labor -Isabelle_

Magnus put his phone back in his pocket as realization hit him. "You're here for Clary's child."

"Think of it," said Hana. "A child three parts angel. What a wonderful gift to the Nephilim race," she sounded as if she was talking about a god- or Raziel, since she was a Shadowhunter.

"Leave them alone," Magnus said in a controlled tone. "You've already messed up their lives enough."

Her smile dropped again. "You know it was your _husband_ who killed me."

"And I'm proud of him," Magnus smiles slightly at this, and Hana scowled. "Give it a rest, Hana. What's left for you? There are four of you left, and you're trying to steal someone's baby," the corner of his lip curled into a smile. "You are all pathetic."

Hana locked her jaw, and glared at him. "Mark my words Bane, I will come for that child one day."

"And we'll be ready."

Hana looked angry, but also a little scared. "You will die along with the rest of your kind," she spat. "Die, then go to hell."

"Great. See you there."

Hana scowled. "I am doing a service to all of nephilim kind by wiping out you and your scum," she spat.

"Like Valentine, and many after him, you've forgotten what a Shadowhunter is."

Something changed in her face at this.

"The point of the nephilim is to protect mundanes, not kill one another, and to kill demons. You do none of those things."

Her face transformed.

"Like Valentine, you are all damned."

She now looked scared. "This isn't over," she said in a shaky voice.

"I say it is," said Magnus.

She twisted the ring on her finger, and she was gone.

"There you are," said Alec, coming out onto the balcony. "Clary's in labor."

"I know," Magnus turned around, and kissed Alec. He was surprised by the suddenness, but was soon kissing him, too. "Let's go."

Magnus aimed his hands at the wall, and opened a portal.

* * *

Mckenzie's eyes fluttered open. She was in the honeymoon suite in a hotel in Paris. Her phone was buzzing. That must have been what had woken her up.

She took her phone off the nightstand, and answered it without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Yeah, Clary just had her baby," said Lydia.

Mckenzie's eyes widened, and she shot into a sitting position. "_What_?!"

She heard Miles stir beside her. She'd forgotten he was there.

"Yeah," said Lydia. "It's a girl."

Mckenzie threw the blanket off of herself. "I'm coming!" She hung up the phone, and tossed it onto the bed, then stripped off her pajamas, and pulled on her jeans.

"... Mckenzie," said Miles, sounding groggy. "What's going on?"

"Clary had her baby," she said quickly, fumbling with the buttons on her shirt.

Miles sat up and ran his fingers through his messy black hair. "Oh."

Mckenzie picked up his jeans from the floor and threw them at him. "Put these on! We're going to New York."

* * *

Clary was exhausted. She was covered in sweat, she felt sore, and her hair was sticking to the back of her neck, and the sides of her face. None of that mattered now. Clary was distracted by the little sleeping baby girl in her arms.

"She's perfect," said Jace, touching the sleeping baby's face lightly with his fingertips.

"She is," Clary murmured, and she smiled, and felt tears come to her eyes. She could see the resemblance in the baby's face. She looked like Jace mostly, but Clary could see her own face in the baby's, too.

Jace sat on the bed next to Clary, and put his arms around around both her and the baby. "What should we call her?"

Clary thought for a second. Names went through her head, naming the baby after her mother, Mckenzie, Isabelle, Lydia, Maryse... She had no clue. "Should we name her after anyone?"

Jace pursed his lips in thought. "I don't think so. I think we should make her name something else. She should have her own name."

Clary nodded, thinking through names. "... What about... Katherine Marie?"

Jace furrowed his brow. "_Katherine Marie_?"

Clary shrugged. "Yeah. I've always liked that name. What do you think?"

Jace kissed Clary on the cheek. "I think it suits her perfectly."

Clary smiled serenely at the child in her arms. "Little baby Katherine Marie. My little angel."

* * *

**And there it is! I hope you liked it!**

**I took all of people's suggestions to heart :)**

**And yes, I know I say "kicked the door shut" a lot through my fics, but I think it gives people the right message without getting onto it too much, right?**

**I also just became aware of the fact I never wrote anything else about Stan and Elena. Truth is, they were never really anyone major in this story, and writing them would be just random, so I didn't. I hope that's alright.**

**Just to let you know, I'm currently writing a spin-off story for 'Heart by Heart' called 'Heart by Heart: Doug's Story' for those of you who are interested. It's the story of Doug, and how he became a Shadowhunter and fell in love with Rainy.**

**Okay. Thank you all so much for being amazing. I love you all, and I will miss you :) I hope to see you on Twitter, or on my other stories :)**

**Thank you thank you thank you!**

**With love,**

**Wisterian Princess**

**Twitter username: WisterianPrince**


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